Abstract
Background
Texture analysis (TA) is a technique that measures the MRI signal via pixel greyscale variations (figure 1), and may be useful in cardiac MR (CMR) for detecting features not visible to the human eye.
Purpose
To use TA to examine myocardial CINE MR Images in a cohort of volunteers. Major feature differences were anticipated between images at end diastole (ED) and end systole (ES), whilst minor differences were anticipated between younger and older volunteers.
Methods
Two cohorts (each n=30) were studied - young (44±3 years), and old (68±4 years). A 2D ECG-gated breath-hold segmented steady-state gradient echo sequence was used. Myocardial TA features were derived using MaZda v4.7. Measurements were made by two observers.
Results
A total of 39 TA features were significantly different between ED and ES (p<0.05), and 9 features were significantly different between the young and old cohorts (p<0.05). Finally, 15 of the original 50 TA features were repeatable (root mean squared coefficient of variation under 10%).
Conclusion
Selected TA features in CINE CMR are repeatable and can identify differences between major and minor texture changes.
Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding source: Other. Main funding source(s): Medical Research Scotland, Guerbet Group