Information about the facility, scanner and equipment

The Purdue Life Science MRI facility is housed in a new 3,800 sqft building located at 750 S University Street (across the street from Lyles-Porter Hall). It is equiped with a Siemens MAGNETOM PRISMA 3-Tesla whole-body MRI system with a 60-cm bore size to support whole-body imaging. The PRISMA scanner includes a 64-channel head/neck coil, as well as the standard 20-channel head coil, a 32-channel spine coil, a 15-channel knee coil and several flexible surface coils and arrays. It is fully equipped with advanced neuro- and body imaging sequences, and fMRI, DTI/DSI, perfusion, cardiac, MSK, and proton and x-nuclei spectroscopy protocols.

The facility is equipped with stimulus presentation and response recording for fMRI experiments. More specifically, the Siemens scanner is equipped with an HD (1080p) digital projection system with a native resolution of 1920 × 1080 for visual presentation and an Avotec Silent Scan 3300 system including both a stethoscopic headset and a full-coverage headset for auditory presentation. Response recording uses a Celeritas response unit that includes 2 fiber-optic response boxes with 3 buttons on each box, and speech responses can be recorded using a noise-cancelling Opto acoustic FOMRI-III fiber-optic microphone.

MR physics support as well as support from a MRI Technologist is available for users of the Siemens PRISMA scanner. 

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is the difference between a primary user and a secondary user?

A primary user has access to the facility via keycard and can reserve and operate the scanner. A secondary user is safety trained to assist a primary user but does not have access to the facility and cannot reserve or operate the scanner.

How do I become a secondary user?

The secondary user training procedure can be found here: http://www.purdue.edu/hhs/mri/Training/ApprovalProcedures.html 

How do I become a primary user?

The primary user training procedure can be found here: http://www.purdue.edu/hhs/mri/Training/ApprovalProcedures.html 

How do I transfer my data from the scanner to the MRI server (GAUSS)?

DICOM Data:

1. Export data to OFFLINE
2. Choose GAUSS/PI NAME as destination => it will automatically create a subdirectory with the study name and all substructure as is on the scanner.

NON-DICOM Data (e.g. rda data, screenshots, pdf's of protocols, TWIX data, etc.):

1. Save data to C:/GAUSS_NONDICOM/PI NAME

• => Create an appropriate sub-directory
• => This directory is synced with an equivalent directory on GAUSS.

How do I retrieve data from Gauss?

Upon becoming a Primary Operator, you will be instructed on how to retrieve your data from GAUSS.

How can I present visual stimuli?

The Life Science MRI facility is equipped with a Hyperion HD 1080p projector with a native resolution of 1920 × 1080. The projector is fully digital and connects to your computer like a regular screen with either a DVI or an HDMI cable. Once detected, the projector automatically syncs with your computer screen. It is very important that you mirror your screen and the projector in order for the sync mechanism to work. If you need a dual display set-up for your experiment, you can connect a second screen to the projector box in the control room.

How can I present auditory stimuli?

The Life Science MRI facility is equipped with an Avotec Silent Scan 3300 system including a stethoscopic headset, a conformal headset, and a full-coverage headset. Note that the full-coverage headset cannot be used with the 64-channel head coil. You can connect any device to the Avotec system using a 3.5 mm audio output cable. Note that each headset requires a different input level, and has such the appropriate source and input cable needs to be selected on the Avotec console.

How can I synchronize my experiment with the scanner trigger?

You can synchronize your fMRI experiment to the scanner trigger by connecting your computer to the Celeritas button-box system via a USB cable in the control room. In order for the trigger to be sent, all the lights on the Celeritas system need to be steady. If they are flashing, hit the 'reset' button and they should stabilize. You will notice that the trigger light will flash (send a trigger) at the beginning of each TR. If the light flash is green, an '=' character is sent to your computer through the USB cable as a regular keyboard input. If the light flash is yellow, a trigger is detected but it is not sent to your computer – it is masked. You can mask and unmask the trigger by pressing the 'mask' button on the Celeritas console in the control room. Note that the trigger is only sent from the Celeritas box during functional scans.

How can I record responses from button boxes?

You can record button-presses in your fMRI experiment by connecting your computer to the Celeritas button-box system via a USB cable in the control room. In order for button-presses to be detected, all the lights on the Celeritas system need to be steady. If they are flashing, hit the 'reset' button and they should stabilize. Every time a button is pressed, a green light corresponding to the pressed button lights up on the Celeritas console. The left- and right-hand button boxes are sticker-labeled (underneath the button boxes). Each button press sends a character to your computer as a regular keyboard input. For the left hand, from left to right: '1', '2', and '3'. For the right hand, from left to right: '6', '7', and '8'. It is good practice to test the button boxes before each participant to ensure that everything is correctly connected. Just open a text processing software and press buttons. You should see the characters appear in the text box as you press them.

How can I record vocal responses?

You can record vocal responses in the scanner using the noise-cancelling Opto acoustic FOMRI-III fiber-optic microphone. You can connect your computer via USB cable to the microphone console in the control room (note that this is a different USB cable than the Celeritas box used to record the trigger and button presses). The microphone will be read by your computer as a regular microphone input, and you can use your favorite software to record the speech. The microphone console has a volume and a noise-reduction setting. Note that the volume on the console is only for the console (i.e., what you hear in the control room) and does not affect the recording volume. The noise cancelling setting, however, will affect your recording.