Does the stability assessment of an MRI scanner depend on the phantom used?

Motivation: The demonstration of the independence of fBIRN QA metrics on the phantom used would enable an easy cross-scanner comparison of scanner stability, thus improving such QA for clinical use (e.g., presurgical mapping). Goal(s): The goal of this study was to assess the variance measured using such metrics across phantoms. Approach: Nine identical phantoms were scanned on a single 3T scanner. Relaxometry and fBIRN scanning was performed on all phantoms and compared to those measured on a single phantom scanned 15 times. Results: No significant difference was found between phantoms on either their relaxivities, or their QA fBIRN parameters. Impact: The independence of fBIRN QA metrics on the phantom used found in this work enables the use of generalised QA across MRI scanners to assess their capacity at providing high quality fMRI for presurgical mapping, thereby ensuring optimal patient outcomes.