Facilities and Resources at the MRF
The centerpiece of the facility is a state-of-the-art Siemens 3 Tesla TIM TRIO scanner, equiped with 32 receive channels for significant increases in signal-to-noise and acquisition speed. |
Advanced Coils |
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A wide variety of coils are available for specialized purposes. The 32-channel head coil (right) provides twice the signal-to-noise as the standard twelve-channel head coil. An extremity coil allows imaging of knees and other body parts. Several small transmit/receive coils may be used for animal imaging or materials research. |
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High Performance Gradient Insert |
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This investigational device from Siemens provides a significant increase in both the strength and the slew rate (switching speed ) of the scanner gradients. As a result, much smaller fields of view are possible making small animal (e.g., mouse) imaging feasible with the whole boddy scanner. |
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Visual Stimulus Presentation |
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Visual stimuli may be presented with a rear projection system to a screen located at the rear of the scanner. |
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Auditory Stimulus Presentation |
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The Avotec SS-3100 Silent Scan™ Audio System offers excellent noise reduction for studies incorporating auditory stimuli. Features include: flat frequency response, for uniform audio output; calibration that measures sound pressure level delivered to the subject; high audio signal levels (on the order of 120dBA); gain selection for audio input; and a range of inputs. |
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Eye Tracking |
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A long-range infrared video based eye tracker ( SMI) is available for recording and analysis of point of gaze and pupilometry data during scanning. The system currently operates at 60 Hz and is in the process of being upgraded to 250 Hz. |
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Physiological Monitoring |
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Designed to be completely MRI compatible, the Invivo Physiological monitoring system allows the researcher to wirelessly monitor ECG and SpO2 from the control room. The system also features Non-Invasive Blood Pressure, low-flow end tidal CO2, continuous temperature and cardiac monitoring. |
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Infrared Participant Monitoring |
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An infrared video monitoring system allows researchers to monitor volunteers even in conditions with little or no light in the scanner room. |
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Experimental Control Computers |
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Both Macintosh and PC computers are available for stimulus presentation and experimental control. Available software includes E-Prime and Psychophysics Toolbox for MATLAB. Connections are also available for researchers to use their own equipment for experimental control and response collection. |
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Response Devices |
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Manual responses may be collected with a Mag Design and Engineering four-button response pad with adjustable wrist cushion for subject comfort and decreased fatigue. A two-axis joy stick is also available. |
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High-performance Compute Cluster |
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A High Performance Computing cluster, along with several workstations, is available for data analysis and short-term data storage. The cluster consists of 18 Apple dual-processor G5 XServes. Available software includes AFNI, MATLAB, SPM, FreeSurfer, FSL and Brain Voyager. |
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MRI Simulator |
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Our MRI simulator looks, feels, and sounds like the real thing. It is especially useful for preparing special populations, such as pediatric participants, for their experience in the real scanner, making data acquisition more successful. |
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MRI-Compatible EEG |
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| A 64-channel EEG system allows simultaneous collection of temporally preceise electrophysiological data during MRI scanning. A 16-channel auxilliary amplifier allows for the collection of additional physiological signals such as GSR, EMG, EOG, etc. |
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