Validation of quantitative measurements in cardiovascular imaging

Recent developments in cardiovascular imaging have shown a trend towards quantitative measurement of findings. These quantitative measurements could eventually be the basis to obtain quantitative imaging biomarkers that could be used to predict, diagnose, and treat disease. However, the first step to achieve quantitative imaging biomarkers is to establish proper validation of these quantitative measurements to ensure that the numbers obtained from the imaging data are reliable, reproducible, accurate, and clinically useful. This process involves the proper standardization and validation of all steps in the imaging process from acquisition, preprocessing, and postprocessing to reading and reporting. With the papers published in this special issue we hope to increase the evidence required to achieve quantitative imaging biomarkers in cardiovascular imaging by validation of those quantitative measurements in phantoms, animal models, and clinical data.