Abstract #3218

Does the Scanner Make a Difference? Interscanner Variability of Tibial Cartilage T2 Relaxation Time a Comparison of Three 1.5T & One 3T Scanner of One Manufacturer

Annie Horng¹, Sabine Weckbach, Mike Notohamiprodjo, Malte Mnkel, Jrgen Weber, Maximilian F. Reiser, Christian Glaser^2,3

¹Department of Clinical Radiology, University Hospitals LMU Munich - Campus Grosshadern, Munich, Bavaria, Germany; ²Center of Biomedical Imaging, NYULMC, New York, United States; ³Department of Clinical Radiology, University Hospitals LMU Munich - Campus Grosshadern, Munich, Germany

Interscanner variability of T2 in healthy tibial cartilage between three different 1.5T and a 3T scanner of one manufacturer shows significant variability within the same individuum with approximately 7% for global and 9.4% for layer-based values. This appears sufficient to differentiate between healthy and diseased cartilage which may show elevated values up to 70-180%. It still may limit the ability to detect subtle changes under intervention and in follow-up studies. Therefore to reduce measurement error and increase sensitivity to change, not only scanners from the same vendor but identical scanner types within the product lines of a vendor are recommendable.