LCNI resources and instructions for researchers:

LCNI houses a 3T Siemens Allegra (head only) MRI system and a range of image processing facilities. We provide a full range of supporting equipment, software, and expertise, from coil development to statistical analysis. In addition to the systems outlined below, we are able to accomodate most research specific equipment.

MRI system


    MRI system equipment
        3T Siemens Allegra, Siemens NUMARIS/4, syngo MR 2004 A
        proton and multi-nuclear spectroscopy capabilities
        specialty coils and coil development

    Requirements for research use of MRI system
        safety certification
        human subject approval
        informed consent
        magnet time reservation

    Seimens dedicated image processing workstation (Leonardo)

    Setting up for scanning
    Subject preparation instructions

MRI system peripheral equipment

    Visual stimuli equipment and overview
         Projection instructions

    Auditory stimuli equipment and overview
        Sound system instructions

    Eye tracker equipment and overview
         Eye tracker instructions

    Subject response equipment and instructions

    Physiological monitoring equipment and instructions

    Simulator equipment and overview
        Simulator instructions

Data handling and archive

The Center's primary data storage is held on a Sunfire V880 machine with 500 gigabytes of disk storage in a RAID 5 configuration. Data backups to a robotic tape array are performed each evening, and archive tapes are regularly moved to an offsite location.

Raw data from the MRI system is typically placed into research group folders by the center's MRI technologist. All raw data is in a DICOM format. No subject names are embedded in these files, and all data privacy is maintained. The Center also maintains a confidential key linking a human subject identification number with any personal information.
   Instructions
       Accessing your files in research group folders
       File/directory conversion and renaming with MRIConvert

Software

    stimulus
       Presentation ( Neurobehavioral Systems )

    data acquisition
        MRI system software: Siemens NUMARIS/4, syngo MR 2004 A
        many sequence types available: structural, angio, functional, DTI, spectroscopy, etc.
        ASL eyetracker acquisition and analysis

    data handling, file conversion
        eFilm ( Merge eFilm )
        MRIConvert , LCNI

    data analysis
        BrainVoyager ( Brain Innovation )
       Using BrainVoyager
           Importing data into BrainVoyager
           Basic processing using BrainVoyager

        FSL (http://www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/fsl/ )
         ASL eyetracker analysis

    data visualization
        MRIcro
        Space , LCNI   

    general
        Photoshop,
        AutoCad,
        etc.   

    other other common software tools, links to
        SPM
        AFNI
        Free medical image conversion, viewing, visualization and image analysis programs: idoimaging.com

Computational resources

The Center maintains a number of single and dual-processor workstations running a variety of operating systems, including Windows 2000, Windows XP, Solaris, Linux, and Mac OS X. These machines are equipped with software for tasks ranging from email to MR spectroscopy.

The Center also has available a 16-processor SMP cluster with 32 gigabytes of RAM for performing compute-intensive tasks. Center staff can assist in scheduling time on the cluster for processing or special development projects.

The Center's network connections are also made available to researcher laptops via wired and wireless protocols.   

Other equipment

Additional equipment is also available for use within the Center. This equipment includes color and black & white printers, document scanners with optical character recognition software, digital cameras that can be used to document special equipment setups and configurations, a variety of digital media for storing and transferring data, and presentation equipment.

Reference materials

The Center's conference room houses a small library of reference texts relevant to NMR and MRI.

Current paper journals include:
Human Brain Mapping
Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
NeuroImage
Radiology