November 7, 2022 — The Radiological Society of North America’s (RSNA) Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers Alliance (QIBA) and CaliberMRI, an industry leader in standardization of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), announced the successful grant of Conformance Certification to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHS GGC). RSNA/QIBA has partnered with CaliberMRI to help standardize quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI) to improve patient care.
“We are thrilled with our partnership with RSNA/QIBA to help advance our mission to bring standardization to MRI and improve repeatability and reproducibility based on SI-traceable quantitative measurement,” said Bill Hollander, CEO of CaliberMRI. “RSNA/QIBA’s high standards for Conformance Certification ensure that compliant sites have achieved expertise in acquiring quantitative MRI data.”
MRI plays an important role in diagnosis, treatment planning, and treatment monitoring of cancer, as well as neurodegenerative, and other diseases. MRI holds many advantages: it offers superior soft-tissue imaging, is non-invasive, and does not expose the patient to ionizing radiation. MRI scans are often interpreted in a qualitative manner, not incorporating the important quantitative data acquired during imaging. RSNA/QIBA’s mission is to “transform patient care by making radiology a more quantitative science.” Through this effort, CaliberMRI and RSNA/QIBA have partnered to ensure participating sites meet the exacting criteria required by QIBA’s diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) Profile, which provides best practices for DWI application for trialists.
To achieve QIBA Conformance, participating institutions must satisfy QIBA Conformance for the DWI Profile, which utilizes CaliberMRI’s “QIBA” Diffusion Phantom Model 128 and companion qCal-MR software.
NHS GGC’s deputy head of MRI physics, John McLean, Ph.D., and his team, led by M.Sc. candidate Bethany Alward, worked closely with CaliberMRI to achieve QIBA Conformance on NHS GGC’s radiotherapy planning Siemens Sola MR system at the Beaton Oncology Centre and on NHS GGC Research and Innovation’s Siemens Prisma MR system.
“The process demands attention to detail and provides us with certainty that our MRI scanner data is matched to a ground truth. CaliberMRI’s phantom and companion qCal-MR software allows us to check scanner performance on a regular basis,” Dr. McLean said. “Knowing the robust process that RSNA/QIBA engaged in to release the QIBA Conformance program gives us confidence in the integrated performance of our scanners, coils and personnel.”
To learn more about the CaliberMRI’s RSNA/QIBA Conformance Certification process, please visit https://www.rsna.org/research/quantitative-imaging-biomarkers-alliance/qiba-conformance-certification-services.