Multidisciplinary Neuroimaging Resource Core for Clinical Neuroscience

Director

Georg Deutsch, Ph.D.
Website: MNRC for Clinical Neuroscience

Expertise

The UAB MNRC for Clinical Neuroscience facility offers expertise and assistance in the following research capabilities:

• Radiation chemistry/physics & radiation biology
• Imaging
• Radiotherapeutics
• Specialized equipment operations
• Brain image post processing

Hardware

The MNIRC analysis laboratory is equipped with four computer workstations, four remote stations located at scanner facilities, and extensive software to perform state of the art imaging analysis and across modality registration. This includes innovative applications of the newest MRI techniques (arterial spin labeling based perfusion, diffusion weighted imaging, white matter tractography) and new PET ligand modeling of neuroreceptor pathways.

The laboratory currently has five Windows-based Dell Precision scientific workstations, including dual Xeon quad core systems dedicated to neurological image processing. The main server operates on a Unix platform, has 32GB of RAM, 4TB of hard disk space, and advanced graphics cards used in special gpu based algorithms and applications.  Additionally, one Sun Blade Workstation for Unix-based imaging applications is also available. Several custom-written applications, widgets, and macros are also available for efficient image and data processing. Computers on the Core’s network are connected using a 100 Mbps shared Ethernet protocol. Satellite workstations belonging to the Core are currently set up at two 3T MRI facilities on UAB campus, to streamline data transfer and remote processing by research groups utilizing the core.  Three graphics printers and several external 2Tb storage drives are also available for users of the Core.

The lab also has basic electronic testing instruments, including a 20 KHz signal generator and a 2 MHz oscilloscope

Software and Technology

• Various image processing software packages available to MNIRC core-users include:
• MATLAB & Major Accompanying Toolboxes (The Mathworks Inc., Natick, MA)
• Brain Voyager QX (Brain Innovations, Maastricht, The Netherlands)
• SPM/FSL (Stat. Parametric Mapping, Dept. Imaging Neurosc., Univ. College London, UK)
• Jim (Xinapse Systems, Kettering, UK)
• MedX (Medical Numerics Inc., Germantown, MD)
• MRVision (MRVision Co., Winchester, MA)
• CIMS (Java-based PACS System, developed In-house at UAB)
• Custom software for oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) MRI and pseudo CASL (pCASL) pulse sequences, acquisition and analysis.
• In addition, workstations for specific translational clinical applications are set up in the new TKC neuroradiology quantitative analysis room including:
• StealthViz
• IB perfusion analysis for contrast based MRI techniques
• DynaSuite