Investigator Information
The HNL currently provides scanning facilities, computing resources, and technical support to investigators at Rice University, University of Houston, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, as well as Baylor College of Medicine. Investigators interested in scanning at the HNL can contact Krystle Bartley at 713-798-3079 or for further information.
Scanning facilities
The currently sited five Siemens 3T MR scanners (2 Siemens Allegra (head-only); 3 Siemens Trio) are equipped with the following stimulation and response interfaces:
- behavioral response: two-hand, four-button optical response pads with USB, serial, and TTL output (Current Designs, Inc.)
- video stimulation: rear-projection video display (NEC GT2150) (NEC NP2000)
- corrective lenses for use with video stimulation: MR-compatible frames with insertable polycarbonate lenses (prescriptions range from -8.00 to +8.00) (Solo Bambini)
- audio stimulation: dynamic and piezoelectric headphones (MR Confon, GmbH)
- gustatory stimulation: dual-syringe pump (Harvard Apparatus HA33)
- eye-tracking (currently only sited in one Allegra scanner): IR-illuminated CCD system, ViewPoint software (Arrington Research)
examples of scanning parameters:
structural (default T1 MPRAGE):
- 192 transversal slices @ 0.89mm
- FoV = 245mm x 214mm
- in-plane resolution = 256 x 208
- voxel size = 0.96mm x 0.96mm x 0.89mm
- TR = 1200ms
- TE = 2.93ms
- flip angle = 12º
functional (default EPI):
- 26 transversal slices @ 4mm, 0% overlap
- FoV = 220mm
- in-plane resolution = 64 x 64
- voxel size = 3.44mm x 3.44mm x 4.00mm
- TR = 2000ms
- TE = 40ms
- flip angle = 90º
Physical space of scanner/room (Allegra scanners):
- scanner room measurements
- 19 ft x 16 ft
- head coil diameter
- 11 in
- outer bore diameter
- 22 in
- table length
- 6 ft
- back of bore diameter (max stimulus diam)
- 15 in
- projector waveguide diameter
- 8 in
- outer waveguide diameter
- 2 in
- head coil mirror to projection screen
- 29 in
- head coil mirror to back wall
- 6.5 ft
- top of bore to center bars on coil (clearance)
- 1.5 in
- center of bore to waveguide
- 20 ft
- back of bore to projector (stimulus throw dist.)
- 10 ft
- shielded window height
- 24 in
- width of doorway
- 39.5 in
Computing resources
- 50 workstations (each investigator has access to Linux, Windows XP and Mac workstations)
- Western Scientific Linux Cluster (50 node, 400 core, 800GB RAM, GigE Interconnect)
- IBM Linux Cluster (32 node, 64 core, 128GB, GigE Interconnect)
- 10 Linux servers (Dual CPU Xeon, 8-way Opteron) are available for image and data analysis
- 4 Gbit/s Fibre Channel Storage Area Network
- 90 terabyte fast disk storage
- 60 terabyte digital tape backup
- Daily backups with weekly off-site data storage at secure facility
- 54 Mbit/s secure wireless network
- 1 Gbit/s Ethernet network
- MR stimulation software: NEMO: synchronized, multi-subject, multi-institution generalized stimulation presentation and data management framework
- MR image retrieval software: Experiment Browser: secure web-based image retrieval using NEMO client with proper authorization
- MR Analysis Tools: MATLAB with statistics and signal processing toolboxes, SPM2, AFNI, FSL, MRIcro, xjView, R, SAS
- Productivity Tools: Adobe Suite, Microsoft Office Suite, OpenOffice
Physical space
- 9500 square feet
- 14 staff offices
- 12 open-area graduate student and postdoc workstations
- 16 behavioral testing rooms
- 2 observation room with video/audio recording
- 2 conference rooms with 20+ person capacity
- 1 data center with 12 rack capacity
- 5 scanning suites