UBC High Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging Centre

Facilities


Human Scanner

The research human scanner is located in basement of the Purdy Pavilion in UBC Hospital. To get there, enter the Purdy Pavilion (Extended Care Unit) by the main door (with the plywood cow cut-outs), then take the elevator down one floor, exit the elevator by the rear door and follow the signs to MRI.

Our scanner is a Philips Gyroscan Intera 3.0 Tesla MRI scanner for functional MR and spectroscopy. The scanner was purchased with the following options:

The goal in purchasing the above scanner was to have a system which can support all potential users of the MR Imaging Centre. A feature of the Philips magnet is that it is of very compact design, thereby making it less claustrophobic than the larger long bore scanners. It should be an excellent platform for research studies on young children.

fMRI Presentation and analysis system

We plan to purchase a complete state of the art  fMRI presentation and analysis system. This will complement the Philips fMRI capabilities. We will include more details as they become available.
 
 

Animal Scanner

The animal MRI scanner will be located in the basement of the Koerner Pavilion in UBC Hospital. The exact site is yet to be determined.

Our scanner is a Bruker BioSpec 70/30 USR in vivo MR spectroscopy/imaging system.  It operates at 7.0 Tesla and has an inner bore of 30 cm. We have purchased a 'fully loaded' system with three sets of gradients and rf coils optimised for cat MR, rat MR and mice MR (to be confirmed). We have the capabiity to scan many different nuclei, including protons, phosphorus, carbon 13 and fluorine 19. We have also included phased array technology (to be confirmed) which is only just becoming available on animal MR imagers.

 
Alex MacKay last updated: 1 April 03