Magnetic Resonance Imaging with PET Insert - Small Bore

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Step 1: Project requisition: New users must complete the online “Project Initiation Form” and send a meeting request to Maosen Wang (maosen@vtc.vt.edu) to arrange a project consultation and begin a new imaging project. The core facility staff offers support for your research proposal and study design.

Established users: Established users may forego the first step and immediately make a reservation.

Step 2: IACUC protocol: You may need to amend your IACUC protocol for in vivo imaging studies and add imaging personnel to your protocol. The facility has an imaging protocol (IACUC #20-196) which covers most of the MRI, PET and CT standard procedures that can be used for pilot experiments. You can bridge your protocol with our imaging protocol as well. Please contact Amy Rizzo (amyrizzo@vt.edu) for any protocol related issues, or Maosen Wang (maosen@vtc.vt.edu) for imaging protocol.

Step 3: Safety and instruments specific training: Please contact Maosen Wang (maosen@vtc.vt.edu) for safety and instrument-specific training.

If radioactive material or X-ray is involved in your study, contact Donald Conner (dcon@vt.edu), radioactive safety officer, for training and approval.

Step 4: iLab registration: Every user needs an iLab account with billing information to reserve the equipment. Please contact Amy Huffman (ashuffman@vtc.vt.edu), director of finance and core management if you have any questions.

We offer consulting services for your research grant proposal. We can provide a letter of support, biosketches, and preliminary images/figures for your grant proposal as long as the procedures are covered by our imaging protocol. Please contact Jenny Munson (munsonj@vtc.vt.edu) or Maosen Wang (maosen@vtc.vt.edu) for more information.

Facility description: Fralin Biomedical Research Institute's brand new small bore imaging facility was recently completed in the institute's new expansion at Riverside 4. This state-of the-art facility houses two small bore imaging machines: a Bruker Biospec 9.4T MRI with PET Insert (Si 103), which will provide simultaneous MRI/MRS and PET recording for preclinical research and material science applications, and a Bruker PET/CT (SI-78), which features homogeneous, high-resolution, and quantitative PET/CT imaging with a large field of view up to 200 mm. The equipment is outfitted with an isoflurane anesthesia system (Stoelting Link 7), EEG, and respiration monitoring as well as temperature control. The machine and monitoring equipment are controlled via separate workstations. A secondary workstation is available for image analysis and processing connected to the institute's servers. Within these rooms there are separate sample preparation and recovery areas as well as sample handling areas. Dr. Jenny Munson is the primary user of this facility and will oversee its use as it is established as a core facility. Dr. Maosen Wang manages this core facility’s day-to-day operations, develops protocols, and helps with experiments and analysis.

Our services include imaging, data storage and transfer, data safety, and imaging processing. Please contact Maosen Wang (maosen@vtc.vt.edu) or our Information Technology team  (help@vtcri.kayako.com) for more information.

If you need the support for tail vein insertion, catheterization, surgery, or other procedures, please contact our laboratory lead technician, Taylor King (kingtn07@vtc.vt.edu).

Rate Schedule

Scheduling and canceling policies

• Working hours for staff-operated studies are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. A minimum advance notice of 48 hours is required for staff-operated studies, which also depend on scanner and staff availability.
• Minimum 24-hour advance notice is required for rescheduling or cancelling the studies.
• Users will be charged based on the time that is booked on iLab, including preparation and cleaning time. The user should double-check that they are on the corresponding equipment calendar and to transport the samples to the preclinical in vivo imaging core facility.
• When there is a scheduling conflict between different projects, we encourage the imaging leaders for each project to communicate directly. We reserve the right to give a minimum 24-hour advance notice to ask the imaging leaders to reschedule an experiment.
• The core facility will keep all the imaging leaders posted on the status of our equipment (such as incident reports, maintenance, QC, cooling system, air supply, etc.).

Training policies

• We strongly encourage the research team to assign one person (doctoral student, postdoctoral associate or faculty) as the imaging leader for each on-going imaging project, and encourage the imaging leaders to take the equipment and project specific training, so they are able to operate the equipment independently.
•  All users of the core facility need to take the corresponding safety trainings.
• After the equipment and project specific training, the imaging leader needs to observe the core staff to run their project -- at least 30 hours for MRI studies, 20 hours for PET studies and 10 hours for CT studies -- until both the imaging leader and the core staff agree that the imaging leader can run the equipment for their study. The standard hourly assistant fee will be applied for training.

Safety policies

• During the experiment, all the users should suspend the experiment immediately in the event of an error message, alarm, unusual noise, or anything out of the ordinary, and make immediate contact with one of the following:
  • Maosen Wang, Core Director: (671) 870-8739 or (540) 526-2371
  • Jenny Munson, Assistant Core Director: (434) 242-8221
  • Sarah Glenn, Associate Director, Facilities Development and Technical Operations (540) 655-8169
    

Data backup and transfer

• The data will be backed up weekly on the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute server.
• Data on the equipment console will be retained for about one year. Data older than one year can be deleted after backup is confirmed.
• For internal institute users, data will be uploaded to an institute shared folder on the institute's server. For the external users, the data can be uploaded to a server or Google drive based on the user’s request.
• The imaging leader is responsible for checking the data after each experiment and project. 

Collaboration and contribution:  

Pre-clinical Imaging Core faculty agree to be accountable for all aspects of the study, ensuring that questions related to the imaging part of the study are appropriately investigated and resolved. When an imaging core faculty member is deeply involved in a research study (more than 40 hours in total), such as in the conception/design of the study or the data acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the study, the research group agrees to add the faculty member as co-author for publication.

Apr. 15, 2021: The control office approved the schedule of rates.

Feb. 12, 2021: The core (room G411 and G412) is now approved for use of ABSL1 samples per the inspection and approved transportation route.

Jan. 28, 2021: Core facility received X-ray certification (FBRI-002X) for Bruker Si78 CT scanner.

Jan. 26, 2021: Facility core imaging IACUC protocol (20-196) was approved.

Jan. 21, 2021: Core facility received Radioactive Material Authorization (FBRI-003) for PET studies.

Bruker 94/20 MRI scanner with PET insert: Room G412 (ground floor), 4 Riverside Circle, Roanoke

Parking: During business hours, visitors may park in designated visitor parking places at the entrance to the parking garage at 2 Riverside Circle. Visitors may also park on the 2nd - 6th floors of the parking garage located at 5 Riverside Circle. On nights and weekends, visitors may park anywhere in the 5 Riverside parking garage, as well as the surface lot and parking deck. All parking is free.