CfN Scanner Resources

The Center for Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy in the Department of Radiology currently operates two whole-body human MRI scanners mostly dedicated for research protocols, a 1.5 Tesla Siemens Avanto and a 3.0 Tesla Siemens Prisma Fit within the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP).

The Siemens Prisma Fit 3T whole-body MRI system is managed by the Center for Functional Neuroimaging exclusively for neuroscience neuroimaging and includes 8-, 12-, and 32-channel head receiver arrays. This scanner also has an outboard image processing computer that allows simultaneous multislice imaging using Human Connectome Project sequences for fMRI and DTI. Extensive ancillary instrumentation is available on for fMRI, including projection systems, audio systems, video monitoring, pupillometry and eye traking, button/joystick, trackball interface, and noise cancelling microphones. (This instrument was upgraded from a Siemens 3T Tim Trio in the first half of 2017.)

There is also a 3.0T Siemens Tim Trio located nearby at HUP which is dedicated a portion of the time to research and the remaining time to clinical use. Gradient coils are capable of imaging at 40mT/m with slew rates in excess of 200 T/m/s. This and other HUP scanners include standard capabilities for echoplanar imaging, arterial spin labeled perfusion imaging, diffusion imaging, angiography, spectroscopy, and spectroscopic imaging. BOLD fMRI sequences include automatic higher order shimming and both prospective and retrospective motion correction. Gradient performance allows 4 mm isotropic voxels at TR=2 sec and 3 mm isotropic voxels at TR=3 sec (3T). Both systems have integrated body RF coils and 8-channel and 12-channel head receiver arrays. The 1.5T system uses a receive-only head RF coil. The 3T system has several transmit/receive volume head coils and a multi-element receive only volume coil suitable for parallel acquisition schemes. Image data from these scanners can be ported directly to CD or a local workstation for back-up onto DVD for larger data sets. Another Siemens 3 Tesla Tim Trio systems is available at the Perelman School of Medicine facility in the newest building, the Translational Research Center and is part of the Small Animal Imaging Facility.

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania	The Center for Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy in the Department of Radiology currently operates two whole-body human MRI scanners mostly dedicated for research protocols, a 1.5 Tesla Siemens Avanto and a 3.0 Tesla Siemens Prisma Fit within the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP). The Siemens Prisma Fit 3T whole-body MRI system is managed by the Center for Functional Neuroimaging exclusively for neuroscience neuroimaging and includes 8-, 12-, and 32-channel head receiver arrays. This scanner also has an outboard image processing computer that allows simultaneous multislice imaging using Human Connectome Project sequences for fMRI and DTI. Extensive ancillary instrumentation is available on for fMRI, including projection systems, audio systems, video monitoring, pupillometry and eye traking, button/joystick, trackball interface, and noise cancelling microphones. (This instrument was upgraded from a Siemens 3T Tim Trio in the first half of 2017.) There is also a 3.0T Siemens Tim Trio located nearby at HUP which is dedicated a portion of the time to research and the remaining time to clinical use. Gradient coils are capable of imaging at 40mT/m with slew rates in excess of 200 T/m/s. This and other HUP scanners include standard capabilities for echoplanar imaging, arterial spin labeled perfusion imaging, diffusion imaging, angiography, spectroscopy, and spectroscopic imaging. BOLD fMRI sequences include automatic higher order shimming and both prospective and retrospective motion correction. Gradient performance allows 4 mm isotropic voxels at TR=2 sec and 3 mm isotropic voxels at TR=3 sec (3T). Both systems have integrated body RF coils and 8-channel and 12-channel head receiver arrays. The 1.5T system uses a receive-only head RF coil. The 3T system has several transmit/receive volume head coils and a multi-element receive only volume coil suitable for parallel acquisition schemes. Image data from these scanners can be ported directly to CD or a local workstation for back-up onto DVD for larger data sets. Another Siemens 3 Tesla Tim Trio systems is available at the Perelman School of Medicine facility in the newest building, the Translational Research Center and is part of the Small Animal Imaging Facility. The research scanners operated by the Center for Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy are located within the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and are staffed with MRI technologists skilled in imaging research protocols. Access to these scanners is available for approved protocols on an hourly basis at a nominal rate for government/research protocols, currently $500 per hour. In addition to these research personnel, an on-call Radiologist is available and the scanners are equipped with full physiological monitoring capabilities, crash carts, and are accessible to Hospital code teams. An on-site engineer is available to maintain the scanners in the event of technical malfunction. Extensive expertise in pulse programming, radiofrequency coil design, and pulse sequence design is available within the Center. An electronics/machine shop is also available on-site.

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine	The Center for Functional Neurolimaging in conjunction with the new Neuroscience Neuroimaging Core also has two new MRI scanners located in the basement of Stellar-Chance Building in the Perelman School of Medicine. There is a Siemens 7T and a Siemens 3.0 Prisma available for research projects. This neuroscience-dedicated 3T MRI (Prisma) is installed in the basement of the Stellar Chance Building adjacent to our 7 Tesla whole-body system. This 3T Prima system includes s 64-channel head/neck receiver and a 20 channel head-only receiver. The Prisma features “connectome” gradients with 80mT/m maximum gradient amplitude and 200 T/m/s maximum slew rate and a stabilized gantry that are optimized for DTI, along with and on-board GPU processor to allow rapid image reconstruction for multiband EPI and other high-throughput imaging. Ancillary equipment for this system includes an MRI-compatible LCD panel (InVivo SensaVue), noise-cancelling headphone/microphone (OptoAcoustics), fiberoptic button/trackball/joystick/grip force response system (Current Designs), in-bore video monitoring (MRC Systems), and MRI-compatible eye-tracking (SRS). A Siemens 7 Tesla whole-body research MRI system with a 32-channel head coil is located in the basement of the Stellar Chance Building on the School of Medicine campus. This system is being upgraded to a new Siemens Terra configuration, which includes the same high performance “connectome” gradients used in the Siemens Prisma scanner and native parallel transmission capabilities. Ancillary equipment for this system includes an MRI-compatible LCD panel (InVivo SensaVue), noise-cancelling headphone/microphone (OptoAcoustics), fiberoptic button/trackball/joystick/grip force response system (Current Designs), in-bore video monitoring (MRC Systems), and MRI-compatible eye-tracking (Avotek). Please visit our wiki for full information on these resources and ancillary equipment: https://cfn.upenn.edu/mri/wiki/doku.php

Ancillary Resources	Mock MRI Scanner. A commercial mock MRI (PST) is located in the Levin Building, approximately 2 minutes from the real MRI scanners and is equipped for fMRI stimulus delivery, synthetic scan sounds, and real-time inertial head movement monitoring. MRI Compatible EEG System. BrainAmp MR Plus system (Brain Products, Gilching, Germany) for recording EEG signal in the MR scanner simultaneously with fMRI acquisition. The hardware of this system consists of a MR compatible amplifier, two MR compatible power supplies, four 32-channel MR-compatible caps, and three 14-channel MR-compatible caps specifically designed for sleep study. This system also includes a complete set of softwares, including the Recorder for multifunctional EEG signal recording, the Recview for real time data analysis, and the Analyze 2 for offline data analysis. MRI Compatible TMS System. A MagVenture MRI compatible system configuration based on the MagPro X100 with MagOption magnetic stimulator and the MRi-B91 coil is on order for use with our new 3T MRI system. This device provides the flexibility to do up to 100 pps (100Hz) stimulation rates. Besides the Biphasic waveform, it also offers capabilities to do Monophasic, Half Sine and Biphasic Burst (Theta Burst) waveform by simple selection from the screen menu, offers versatile trigger in/out capabilities to ensure easy interface with EEG, EMG and EP equipment, monitoring and read out of the realized output values (di/dt), storing and transferring stimulation/ system status data for each and every pulse in any given protocol. Within the user interface users can design and store up to 27 different protocols which can be easily recalled by simply push of a button. MRI Compatible tDCS System. The neuroConn DC-STIMULATOR PLUS is a micro-processor-controlled constant current source. It features multistage monitoring of the current path and by continuously monitoring electrode impedance it can detect insufficient contact with the skin and automatically terminate stimulation. A remote mode enables external control by a voltage supply source and filter boxes and cables are available for operation within an fMRI scanner. The fMRI module module allows artifact-free MR images even during EPI sequences and has been tested for 1.5 and 3 Tesla scanners.