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Comparative Study
. 2021 Mar;62(3):255-261.
doi: 10.3349/ymj.2021.62.3.255.

Comparison of Automated Brain Volume Measures by NeuroQuant vs. Freesurfer in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment: Effect of Slice Thickness

Younghee Yim  1   2 , Ji Young Lee  3 , Se Won Oh  4   5 , Mi Sun Chung  2 , Ji Eun Park  6 , Yeonsil Moon  7 , Hong Jun Jeon  8 , Won Jin Moon  9
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Comparison of Automated Brain Volume Measures by NeuroQuant vs. Freesurfer in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment: Effect of Slice Thickness

Younghee Yim et al. Yonsei Med J. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the inter-method reliability and volumetric differences between NeuroQuant (NQ) and Freesurfer (FS) using T1 volume imaging sequence with different slice thicknesses in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Materials and methods: This retrospective study enrolled 80 patients diagnosed with MCI at our memory clinic. NQ and FS were used for volumetric analysis of three-dimensional T1-weighted images with slice thickness of 1 and 1.2 mm. Inter-method reliability was measured with Pearson correlation coefficient (r), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and effect size (ES).

Results: Overall, NQ volumes were larger than FS volumes in several locations: whole brain (0.78%), cortical gray matter (5.34%), and white matter (2.68%). Volume measures by NQ and FS showed good-to-excellent ICCs with both 1 and 1.2 mm slice thickness (ICC=0.75-0.97, ES=-1.0-0.73 vs. ICC=0.78-0.96, ES=-0.9-0.77, respectively), except for putamen, pallidum, thalamus, and total intracranial volumes. The ICCs in all locations, except the putamen and cerebellum, were slightly higher with a slice thickness of 1 mm compared to those of 1.2 mm.

Conclusion: Inter-method reliability between NQ and FS was good-to-excellent in most regions with improvement with a 1-mm slice thickness. This finding indicates that the potential effects of slice thickness should be considered when performing volumetric measurements for cognitive impairment.

Keywords: Brain volume; FreeSurfer; NeuroQuant; mild cognitive impairment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Scatterplot showing the correlation between NQ and FS. A Pearson correlation coefficient was computed to assess the relationship between volume measurements obtained by NQ and FS. There was a strong positive correlation between the two variables; r=0.988, n=80, 95% CI: 0.986–0.989, p<0.001. NQ, NeuroQuant; FS, Freesurfer.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Percentages of volumes measured by NQ and FS, (NQ–FS)/FS×100%. NQ, NeuroQuant; FS, Freesurfer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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