MRI Lab general
MRI lab head: Dr Julien Besle
Lead radiographer: Ben Walton
MR physicists: Drs Jamie Roberts and Malek Benattayallah
Contact
To contact the MRI lab, email BRIC.MRI-lab.heads@plymouth.ac.uk
Lab resources
Information about our MRI scanner the Siemens Magneton Prisma 3T can be found here
We have the following kits available in the Lab:
Stimulus presentation computer, screen, responses buttons and a joystick for task based fMRI research
MR-compatible headphones and insert earphones
MR-compatible EEG cap and amplifier for simultaneous EEG-fMRI
MR-compatible biopac with EDA and ECG electrodes
MR-compatible glasses with a range of prescription lenses
(see MRI Peripherals and Experimental Software for more details)
We have a number of ready-to-go MR sequences for:
structural MRI
BOLD fMRI
Diffusion-weighted MRI
Spectroscopy
as well as the capacity to develop custom sequences.
Planning a new study - step by step
Fill a Proof of concept form or a funded study form
Get ethics approval
Once your Proof of Concept / pump priming application is approved:
Contact the Lead radiographer to get safety trained (level 1) or the MRI lab head if you need advanced training. You will only get free access to the lab after you have logged about 10 hours in the lab and demonstrated that you understand and comply with the safety rules.
Ask the MRI lab head to give you access to the MRI booking system
Make an appointment with the MRI lab heads and/or MR physicists to set your protocole up, on the scanner console
Once your ethics is approved:
Book the scanner to run a phantom scan and one or two pilots. Once your data is sent to the cloud, this will automatically create a folder with your study ID
Ask the System Administrator to create a storage for your study.
Check your pilot data. Ideally test your analysis pipeline as well
You are ready to start your data acquisition.
Safety and ethics
See these documents for details of BRIC MR Safety and Operating rules and policies.
BRIC Safety and Risk Operational Policy
Safety training
The levels of safety training and access to the scanner are summarised in the MR lab access levels document
Before being able to access the MRI lab, you will need to complete a safety training. Safety training sessions may be ran monthly or bi-monthly, depending on the needs, in small groups. The training will be renewed annually. For level1, this annual refresher will be online.
Safety questionnaires must be filled by staff and research participants before they can enter the restricted MRI environment.
Ethics
You can find template information and consent forms in section MRI Lab how to Get ethics approval, as well as a general information sheet for participants comming for a scan.