The objective of this study was to determine the inter-observer reproducibility (IOR) of quantitative measures of meniscus size and position, and to compare the IOR and agreement between a double echo steady state (DESS) water excitation and an intermediately-weighted turbo spin-echo (IWTSE) sequence. Eight knees (4 healthy, 4 with radiographic knee OA) from the Osteoarthritis Initiative cohort were studied. Manual segmentation of the menisci was performed by 3 observers and quantitative measures of meniscus size and position (i.e. extrusion) computed using image analysis software. The root mean square IOR error (e.g. 5.4% for medial meniscus volume with DESS and 8.4% with IWTSE) was found considerably smaller than the inter-subject variability (average ratio approximately 1:3). The lowest IOR error for meniscus extrusion was obtained for the central 5 coronal slices across the tibial surface. Quantitative meniscus measures from DESS and IWTSE were highly correlated (r=0.71 to 0.99 for the medial meniscus).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.