Abstract To evaluate how AIR™ Recon DL influences MRI image quality and quantitative brain morphometry relative to conventional reconstruction (CR). Seventy-four healthy adults underwent 3D T1-weighted MRI reconstructed with CR and AIR™ Recon DL. Image quality was rated by two neuroradiologists (κ = 0.74–0.97). VBM assessed total, gray-matter (GM), white-matter (WM), and CSF volumes; SBM analyzed cortical thickness, sulcal depth, fractal dimension, and gyrification across 148 regions. Hippocampal volumes were extracted using the Neuromorphometrics atlas. Reconstruction times were compared. AIR™ Recon DL significantly improved image quality (reduced noise and artifacts, p 0.001) but introduced systematic morphometric shifts—smaller total and WM volumes, larger GM and CSF volumes, and widespread regional thickness increases (effect sizes d ≈ 0.3–0.5). Hippocampal volumes increased bilaterally (ΔL = +0.15 mL, +3.97%; ΔR = +0.15 mL, +3.88%; both p 0.05). Mean reconstruction time was longer for DLR (11.6 ± 1.6 s) than CR (9.9 ± 1.4 s; Δ = +1.7 s, p 0.001). AIR™ Recon DL enhances image quality but causes modest, systematic volumetric biases. Harmonizing reconstruction methods is essential for reliable morphometric comparisons in neuropsychiatric imaging.
Cao et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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