Current Research CORE Scanners:
- Siemens MAGNETOM Prisma 3.0T
- GE SIGNA™ Premier 3T wide-bore MRI scanner
- Located at UAB Highlands
The Research MRI Core houses a Siemens Prisma 3.0T whole-body MRI system and a GE Signa Premier 3T wide-bore MRI system. Both are among the most advanced 3T scanners commercially available for structural, functional, and spectroscopic brain and body imaging. Their architecture also allows for future upgrades, making them excellent for basic and translational research.
PRISMA
The Prisma is designed to withstand the strains of high-duty cycle sequences and to operate at maximum performance during prolonged experiments, unlike clinical systems. This equipment is based on a super-homogeneous 3T magnet with 80 mT/m, 200 T/m/s gradients and 3rd order shims. This system includes advanced parallel transmit technology for 3D localized excitation, which enables zooming into specific body regions for enhanced image quality and resolution.
PREMIER
The Premier is a pioneering MRI system for cutting-edge research and supports the most demanding applications, such as Connectome-type studies that require Ultra-short TE diffusion imaging and high-resolution resting state fMRI. The SuperG 80/200 gradients deliver 60-cm performance in a spacious 70-cm bore, ensuring participant comfort and excellent data quality. The 146-channel RF receive chain enables unprecedented acceleration in parallel imaging that can be leveraged for increased resolution, shorter scan times, or both.
An MR-safe display can be placed behind bore of these magnets, allowing visual stimuli to be presented, visible through a mirror oriented above the participant’s eyes. The same infrared reflective mirror can be used to monitor a participant’s eye movements using an Eyelink 1000 scanner-compatible infrared eye tracker from SR research. Auditory stimuli can be presented using the Etymotics MR-compatible ER-30 sound isolating insert earphones, allowing stimuli to be clearly discriminated from the sounds of the MRI scanners.
Additional Scanners:
