Human Imaging Core

UF CTSI Core facilities

Human Imaging Core

The University of Florida CTSI Human Imaging Core provides infrastructure and support to facilitate research and educational activities using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) technology, with particular emphasis on translational research in humans.

Siemens 3T MRI machine

Location

The UF CTSI Human Imaging Core is located on the ground floor of McKnight Brain Institute (MBI) in rooms LG-109 through LG-114.


Equipment and resources

McKnight Brain Institute
The Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute (MBI) at the University of Florida

The core houses two state-of-the-art 3.0 Tesla whole-body human MR scanners, Siemens and Philips, dedicated to research. Both scanners are equipped with the latest acquisition techniques for human MR research, including multinuclear capabilities, functional MRI (fMRI), advanced diffusion MRI techniques, MR elastography, musculoskeletal and cardiac studies, and MRS techniques.

The Siemens scanner is a 60 cm bore Prisma equipped with an unmatched 80 mT/m @ 200 T/m/s gradient system, parallel transmit capabilities, a series of MR coils and pulse sequence packages. The Philips scanner is a 70 cm bore Engenia Elition 3TX and provides the largest homogenous field-of-view, 55 cm, in a commercial 70 cm system, while still providing strong gradients. The Elition is equipped with Philips’ unique broadband digital MR architecture, the d-STREAM, which samples the signal directly at the coil and transmits the signal through fiber optics to reduce noise and increase signal-to-noise ratio.

On the same floor in the MBI, the Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Facility houses three higher magnetic field magnets (4.7 T, 11.1 T and 17.6 T) for MRI and MRS of animals and/or tissue samples. This is a biological program of the NSF-funded National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, which together with the UF CTSI Human Imaging Core, provides a state-of-the-art facility for cutting-edge translational MR research in human health and diseases.


The CTSI Human Imaging Core capabilities include:

  • Structural and functional MRI
  • Methods and protocols for MRI data acquisition
  • Image quality assurance and quality control
  • Image acquisition and transfer support
  • Image archive, review, and access
  • Teaching investigators data acquisition and analysis techniques
  • Assisting researchers in designing experimental protocols
  • Development of advanced MR imaging and spectroscopy methodology

Availability

The UF CTSI Human Imaging Core is a resource, available on a fee-for-service basis, open to UF Health researchers, as well as researchers from outside UF through collaborations with UF Health researchers, including those in the core.


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