Zuckerman Institute: MR Core

Overview of Services

The Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute is home to three state-of-the-art, research-grade MR systems and the laboratories and staff to support their application to preclinical and human biomedical investigations. All systems are fully capable of MRI, multi-nuclear MRS and fMRI and are fully dedicated to research.

Each of the two Siemens systems and the Bruker system have the following specifications:

Siemens Prisma
3T, 60cm bore
80 mT/m @ 200 T/m/s whole body gradients
128 RF receiver channels
2 RF transmit channels
Multinuclear spectroscopy capable
13 tons, 213 cm long
Closed helium cryocooled (zero helium boil off) magnet
Head, neck, body and spine coils come with system

Our high-field small animal system has the following specifications:

Bruker Biospin
Field strength: 9.4 T
Diameter of clear bore: 30 cm
200 mT/m, 2000 T/m/s gradients
Length: 2.08 m
Diameter: 1.706 m
Multi-nuclear capable
RF cryo-probe and additional volume and surface coils are supplied

MR Laboratories

In addition to the spacious magnet, equipment and console rooms housing these MR systems, each MR suite includes animal prep and animal holding rooms. The human bore 3T Prisma suites also include human volunteer waiting rooms. A mock bore is also available for training MR subjects. Full electronics and instrumentation laboratories are also located on the basement floor near the magnet suites. These labs include all of the machining, fabrication, electronics test equipment and instrumentation required to provide custom experiment support. Examples include animal holders, radiofrequency coils, local shim and gradient coils, physiological monitoring, measurement and stimulation devices. Equipment in the electronics lab includes network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, oscilloscopes, frequency synthesizers, waveform generators, RF power amplifiers, power supplies, volt-ohm meters, power meters, fluroptic thermometers, infrared cameras and a full complement of hand tools, test leads and calibration kits. The machine shop includes lathes, a milling machine, a board mill, drill presses, a 3D printer, band, table and cut-off saws, and a full tool chest. The instrumentation lab contains the full array of Bio Pac and AD physiologic monitors, stimuli devices and other transducers to support both humans and animals on all three MR systems.

At street level of the Greene building is a spacious computational lab dedicated to electromagnetic field simulations, heat transfer simulations, signal processing, RF and gradient pulse programming, data acquisition protocols, data analyses, CAD/CAM design of mechanical devices and packaging and electrical circuits. This lab will host 12 computer terminals and 12 electrical test bench stations.

Leadership

Raphael T. Gerraty

Managing Director - MR Platform
rtg2116@columbia.edu

Location and hours of operation

Links and Resources

1. Siemens Prisma 3T
2. Bruker 9.4T

Contacts