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The Gruss MRRC houses 2 state-of-the-art horizontal bore magnets, a 4T 94cm bore whole body actively shielded magnet and a 9.4T 21cm bore animal system. The systems are equipped with new Varian INOVA consoles and Magnex Scientific magnets. The Gruss MRRC also houses a networked computing facility dedicated to the analysis of MR imaging and spectroscopic data.

4T Human MR system The 4T system (left) uses a new Varian INOVA console with a SUN Ultra SPARC computer as host. The magnet is actively shielded, reducing the 5G lines to less than 16ft on axis and 13 feet cross axis from the magnet center. The system is equipped with two actively shielded gradient sets, a 67cm id bore body set and a 38cm id head gradient insert (Magnex Scientific). The 4T is equipped with two actively shielded gradient sets, a 67cm id bore body set and a 38cm id head gradient insert (Magnex Scientific). The body gradient set has a maximum strength of 40mT/m with a rise time of 860usec while the head set has a maximum strength of 60mT/m (X, Y directions) and 70mT/m (Z) in less than 260usec. The 4T console is configured as a dual channel system and is equipped with two AMT 4kW broadband solid-state RF amplifiers and two 1kW broadband solid state decoupling amplifiers.
MR compatible patient monitoring within the magnet is provided by an In Vivo Research monitor (right) which includes non-invasive measures of heart rate, blood pressure, pulse-oximetry and end tidal CO2 levels.

A range of RF coils are available for the human 4T system, including single 1H and double-tuned (left) 31P/1H volume head coils and 13C/1H quadrature surface coils.The volume head coils are transmission line (TEM) designed, so as to maximize sensitivity and homogeneity for high field use.

9.4T Animal MR system

The 9.4T system uses a 21cm Magnex horizontal bore magnet (right). The 9.4T system is housed in a RF and magnetically shielded room, containing the 5G lines both vertically and horizontally within 3m of the magnet center. The system utilizes a Varian INOVA console with a SUN Ultra SPARC host. The system uses a 12cm ID self-shielded gradient set capable of 200mT/m maximum strength in less than 100usec. The 9.4T is configured as a dual channel system, and is equipped with two 300W solid state amplifiers for frequences above 200MHz, and two 1kW broad0band RF amplifiers for frequencies below 200MHz.

RF coils for the 9.4T animal system include a 1H birdcage (4cm ID, see left) and surface coil (2cm). There is also a transmission line design TEM volume coil (4cm ID). The birdcage and TEM coils are suitable for either whole body mouse and/or rat brain studies.

MRRC Data Analysis Facilities

  • The MRRC houses a network of 7dedicated high end PC's meant for image and spectral processing. Two of these PC's (both, 1.7GHz, 512MB, 40GB) are linked directly to each of the human and animal MR systems, and are located in the console rooms. These two systems allow nearly immediate data assessment without perturbing the operation of the MR consoles. On the second floor (Room 207 of the MRRC) are housed three 1.7GHz, 512MB, and 40GB PC's, which use a combination of Linux and Windows operating systems. Two other PC are available (800MHz, 500MHz) running Windows.
  • Software available for data analysis within the analysis facility include, MATLAB 6.0 (The Mathworks Inc.), MEDX 3.0 (Sensor Systems Inc.), SPM 99, NIH Brain, Sigmastat, as well as many internally written analysis packages.
  • The computer facility is networked with 100Mps and 1GB fiber within the MRRC so as to allow rapid access to the large blocks of data acquired with the human and animal MR systems. External to the MRRC, the system is on the ALNET network to allow inter- and intra-campus data transfer.
  • All users of the computer facility will be assigned a password protected user account with set disk space access. On a regular basis, hard drives will be backed up via tape. All users are expected to remove data from the computers in a timely fashion.
  • The MRRC computing facility is meant for the analysis of data either acquired by the MRRC consoles or by its collaborators. Towards this end, the computing facility is not intended for personal use. Users of this area must be directly associated with the MRRC as a project member or must check with the Administrator, TM Maio prior using the facility.