Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40274701›Full record

ArticleMagma (New York, N.Y.)2025

Automated, open-source, vendor-independent quality assurance protocol based on the Pulseq framework.

Qingping Chen, Niklas Wehkamp, Cai Wan, Patrick Hucker, Martin Büchert, Sebastian Littin, Jon-Fredrik Nielsen, Maxim Zaitsev

Erratum issuedAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Magma (New York, N.Y.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. A vendor-neutral functional MRI acquisition protocol for multi-site studies.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025
    Article
  4. Reproducibility and quality assurance in MRI.Magma (New York, N.Y.) · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Qingping ChenDivision of Medical Physics, Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany. qingping.chen@uniklinik-freiburg.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8719-7672
Niklas WehkampDivision of Medical Physics, Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Cai WanDivision of Medical Physics, Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Patrick HuckerDivision of Medical Physics, Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Martin BüchertDivision of Medical Physics, Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Sebastian LittinDivision of Medical Physics, Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Jon-Fredrik NielsenDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Maxim ZaitsevDivision of Medical Physics, Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.

Funding

A harmonized vendor-agnostic environment for multi-site functional MRI studiesU24NS120056 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI Jon-Fredrik Nielsen, Maxim Zaitsev · 2021 to 2026
$3.3M
Harmonizing data acquisition, reconstruction, and analysis for reproducible, cross-vendor, open source MRIR01EB032378 · NIBIB · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI BILGIC, BERKIN, RATHI, YOGESH · 2022 to 2025
$2.7M
DFG INST 39 1365-1EU MRITwins 101078393EURAMET 22HLT02 A4IMNIBIB NIH HHS R01 EB032378NIH HHS R01 EB032378NIH HHS U24 NS120056NINDS NIH HHS U24 NS120056
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesConsistent image quality and signal stability are crucial for neuroimaging, particularly fMRI studies that rely on detecting small BOLD signal changes. Regular MR system performance monitoring is essential, especially for longitudinal and multi-site studies. This work aims to establish a robust quality assurance (QA) protocol to enhance data comparability across days, scanner versions, vendors, and sites. MATERIALS AND

methodsWe implemented an open-source, vendor-independent QA protocol using Pulseq for standardized data acquisition and ISMRMRD/Gadgetron for harmonized image reconstruction, accompanied by an automated post-processing pipeline to evaluate structural and temporal image quality. The protocol was thoroughly tested on three Siemens 3T scanners with different software versions at one site, and one GE 3T scanner at another site. The test was repeated on an fBIRN phantom for at least 4 days.

resultsThe vendor-independent protocol produced image quality comparable to a closely matched vendor-based protocol. It showed similar day-to-day repeatability to the vendor-based protocol across the Siemens scanners and high inter-day repeatability on the GE scanner.

conclusionWe successfully developed and implemented an open-source, vendor-independent QA protocol, accompanied by an automated post-processing pipeline. The results demonstrate the feasibility and repeatability of the protocol across different days, system versions, vendors, and sites.

Indexed as

Image Processing, Computer-AssistedMagnetic Resonance ImagingNeuroimagingQuality Assurance, Health CareAlgorithmsAutomationBrainHumansPhantoms, ImagingQuality ControlReproducibility of ResultsSoftwareOpen sourcePulseqQuality assuranceSequence developmentVendor independent

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.