Most of our work is focused on
- Ultrahigh-Field (7 Tesla) Human MRI Developments
- MRI RF Coil Design and Methodology for Neuro, Extremity and Whole-Body Applications
- Applications of Ultrahigh Field MRI in Late Life Depression, Alzheimer’s Disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Brain Aging, Midlife Disparities, Childhood Adversity, Normal Aging, Sickle Cell Disease, Schizophrenia, Arm Transplantation and Drug Delivery Using Magnetic Nano Particles.
But we also have developed
- Antennas for Brain Computer Interface
- Anthropomorphic, Heterogeneous, Anatomically-Detailed Human Phantoms.
Facilities and Programs
7 Tesla (T) Bioengineering Research Program
Director: T. S. Ibrahim (PhD)
- 7 Tesla (T) human MRI scanner is housed in the basement of the Biomedical Science Tower 3, the same building and floor as the RF Research Facility. A description of the 7T System is provided below.
- A list of the RF coil and array systems currently used for 7T human imaging studies is provided below.
- Currently, the Department of Bioengineering occupies the 7T Human MRI scanner two full weekdays per week. Scanner bookings and acquisitions are handled by the 7T Bioengineering Research Program.
Radiofrequency (RF) Research Facility
Director: T. S. Ibrahim (PhD)
RF Laboratory
The RF Research Facility (Biomedical Science Tower 3) contains all the necessary equipment for designing and constructing MRI coils/antennas and electromagnetic devices for different types of medical applications. The Facility includes state of the art RF testing equipment. A list of the available RF equipment is provided in the Equipment Section.
Machine Shop
The RF Research Facility includes a mechanical workshop has a lathe and milling machine with accessories for fabrication of metal, fiberglass and plastic supports for antennas, coils and phantoms. A list of the available machining equipment is provided in the Equipment Section.
Computational Capabilities and Storage Systems
The RF Research Facility includes extensive computational capabilities and storage systems. A list of the available computational resources is provided in the Equipment Section.
Equipment
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
7T Magnetom Whole-Body MRI System
This 7T system is a Siemens retrofit of a GE magnet. As part of this retrofit, the scanner was upgraded to 32 independent receive-channels, each of them with multi-nuclear capabilities. The 7T supports parallel transmission capabilities with the addition of a parallel transmission unit from Siemens Medical Systems. This unit provides 8 independent transmission channels.
RF Coil Systems
7T Tic Tac Toe RF Head Coil System
- Transmit: 1 to 16 Channels
- Receive: (insert style) 32 Channels (Fig. A-D below)
- Parallel/Single Transmit Systems: Works on both
A video projector and audio system along with response gloves are used for stimulus presentation & recording.
7T Rapid Biomed Dual Tuned 31P-1H RF Head Coil System
- Transmit: 2 Channels
- Receive: 2 Channels
- Parallel/Single Transmit Systems: Single Transmit
7T TEM RF Head Coil System
- Transmit: 4 Channels
- Receive: (insert style) 14 Channels
- Parallel/Single Transmit Systems: Works on both
7T Tic Tac Toe RF Breast Coil System
- Transmit: 1 to 8 Channels
- Receive: (insert style) 8 Channels
- Parallel/Single Transmit Systems: Works on both
7T Tic Tac Toe RF Whole-Body Coil System
- Transmit: 1 to 32 Channels
- Receive: (insert style) 16 Channels
- Parallel/Single Transmit Systems: Works on both
7T Tic Tac Toe RF Ankle/Foot Coil System
- Transmit: 1 to 4 Channels
- Receive: (insert style) 4 Channels
- Parallel/Single Transmit Systems: Works on both
7T TEM Knee RF Coil System
- Transmit: 1 to 4 Channels
- Receive: (insert style) 8 Channels
- Parallel/Single Transmit Systems: Works on both
7T TEM Hand/Arm Coil System
- Transmit: 1 to 4 Channels
- Receive: (insert style) 8 Channels
- Parallel/Single Transmit Systems: Single Transmit
Physiological Measurements with 7T MRI
- BIOPAC MP160 data acquisition system with AcqKnowledge software
- EEG100C-MRI Electroencephalogram (EEG) Amplifier module
The system is capable of acquisition, analysis of multiple channels with speeds of up to 400kHz and amplification of bioelectric potentials associated with brain activity.
Fully Dedicated Computational Resources
- Super computer cluster – 352-core/1.3TB (RAM) 64-bit AMD Architecture
- 80 Terabyte RAID for data storage
- 2x Hi-end Workstations with Intel Xeon Gold, 80-cores and 160-threads total, and 768GB of memory total
- 2x high-end GPUs, with 9216 CUDA cores and 48GB of memory total
- 4x Desktop computers with Intel Core-i7 processors, 16-cores and 32-threads total, 192GB of memory total, and with mid-end NVIDIA GTX GPU, with 7680 CUDA cores and 32GB of memory in total
Machining
- Lathe and Milling Machines
RF/Phantom/Temperature Equipment
- 12-channel network analyzer
- DAK – high-precision dielectric measurement system for liquids, solids and semi-solids
- 8-channel fiber optic thermometry
- Chemistry kits for designing biological phantoms
- Access to a 3D printer