Guide for MRI Users
1.Experiment
1.1.In the case of an experiment with a human, there must be at least one person present who can speak Japanese well, in case there is an emergency situation.
1.2.Usually an experiment is conducted by a staff member from fMRI Support Unit and experimenter (s) from user lab.
1.3.Be throughly familiar with the quench manual and be prepared for quench during any experiment.
1.4.The upper time limit of an experiment with a human subject is 2 hours.
1.5.In principle, if you repeat scans on a subject, you need to wait at least one week in between scans.
1.6.Once scanning has started, it becomes difficult to communicate with the subject. Inform the subject thoroughly about the steps and duration of the experiment beforehand.
1.7.You may give a subject a print out of a high resolution anatomical image to a subject but not the digital data.
2.Consultation about an technical issue Please contact to a member of the Support Unit directly, or send email to mriu@riken.jp .
If you don’t receive any replay within 24 hours, please contact to us again.
3.Reservation and cancellation of an experiment
3.1.Notes regarding the reservation of an experiment.
3.1.1.In principle, please select an experiment time between 09:30 and 18:00 on weekday.
3.1.2.The length of time reserved should include the time between entering and exiting MRI lab, not only the time of the actual experiment.
3.1.3.(4T site) Avoid scheduling fMRI experiments for 3 days after a helium fill (typically once every 3 months) in order to obtain stable EPI data. Starting the day after a helium fill, you schedule sessions for acquiring an anatomical image.
3.1.4.If your subject is a RIKEN staff member, please reserve the experiment as a ‘negociable time’ experiment.
3.1.5.If you make a reservation on the day of an experiment or the day prior, please contact the Support Unit by phone and confirm whether a member of our staff is available.
3.1.6.Please make sure your experiment does not conflict with other experiments. If the calender is in column mode, you can recognize conflicts.
3.2.Rules for making reservations using the MRI calendar
3.2.1.The URL of the MRI calendar is:
3.2.1.1. 4T site http://www.fmri.brain.riken.jp/~mri/cgi-bin/cal/webcal.cgi
3.2.1.2. 3T site http://www.fmri.brain.riken.jp/~mri/cgi-bin/cal/webcal2.cgi
3.2.2.The MRI calendar is on a public web server, therefore you can access the calendar from outside RIKEN.
3.2.3.You need the password for the calendar for reserving, editing and erasing. Please ask us about password.
3.2.4.Please include the experimenter’s name in title of your schedule.
3.2.5.Please be sure to include your e-mail address on the form. When you have completed entering a schedule on the calendar, a confirmation email will be sent to the e-mail address automatically. You may enter multiple e-mail addresses by separating them with a comma ‘,’.
3.2.6.Booking of an experiment indicates usage of the entire MRI facility. If you don’t use scanner (magnet room), please state so in comment space.
3.2.7.Making the first character of the title an asterisk ‘*’ mark indicates that the time is ‘negotiable’.
3.2.8.If you schedule an experiment with an external subject before having confirmed the time with the subject, please put an asterisk ‘*’ at the beginning of the title. The color of title will become cyan. Once you have confirmed the time with a subject, remove the asterisk from the title and the color of the title become red.
3.2.9.If you are scheduling a high resolution anatomy experiment, please add ‘-3D’ to the title.
3.2.10. If you need the support of a particular support unit member, please add a member’s initial at the tail of the title (-H for Haruhana, -T for Takeshi, -C for Chisato and -K for Ken). If you need all of us, please use ‘-U’ in the last of the title.
3.2.10.1.When scheduling a pilot experiment for adjusting parameters, etc.: Before making an entry in the calendar, please ask Kenichi Ueno (research specialist) about his schedule and please add ‘-K’ to the tail of the experiment title.
3.2.10.2. In the case of an experiment for which the paradigm is already fixed: Please add ‘-C|T|H’ to the tail of the experiment title.
3.2.10.3.If the subject is a woman and you need help of a female staff member.: Please add ‘-C’ to the tail of the experiment title.
3.2.11.The calendar data can be viewed in iCal.
3.2.11.1.normal experiment reservation (3T)：http://www.fmri.brain.riken.jp/~mri/ical/mri8.ics
3.2.11.2.maintenance (3T)：http://www.fmri.brain.riken.jp/~mri/ical/mri9.ics
3.2.11.3.normal experiment reservation (4T)：http://www.fmri.brain.riken.jp/~mri/ical/mri1.ics
3.2.11.4.maintenance (4T)：http://www.fmri.brain.riken.jp/~mri/ical/mri2.ics
3.2.11.5.event: http://www.fmri.brain.riken.jp/~mri/ical/mri4.ics
3.2.11.6.negotiable experiment reservation: http://www.fmri.brain.riken.jp/~mri/ical/mri7.ics
3.2.12.There is a fixed charge for an experiment in which the paradigm has already been fixed.
(example: 2.5 hours = 5 time unit) cf.charge table
3.3.Cancellation
3.3.1.We don’t charge a cancellation fee at this time.
3.3.2.When you are unable to do a experiment, please delete the schedule from the calendar as soon as possible. And please inform the Support Unit staff member working with your experiment via telephone.
4.Fees
4.1.New project : 500,000 yen
4.2.Test experiment (scanning) on phantom (dummy head) : free
4.3.An experiment on human subject
4.3.1.amount of charge : xxxx yen / 30 min(changed by a fiscal year)
4.3.2.cancel charge : 0 yen
4.4.Terminated experiment
4.4.1.An experiment terminated by subject or by experimenter : charged as usual
5.fMRI unit information
http://www.fmri.brain.riken.jp/~mri/home.html
Our office: BSI East Building Room 207
Kang Cheng kcheng@riken.jp
Kenichi Ueno uken@riken.jp
Takeshi Asamizuya asamizuya@brain.riken.jp
Chisato Suzuki chisatos@brain.riken.jp
Kenji Haruhana haruhana@brain.riken.jp
mriu@riken.jp (ML consisting of Ken, Takeshi, Chisato and Kenji)
3T MRI room: B10, 048-467-9656 (Ex.7040)
4T MRI room: B11/12, 048-467-9656 (Ex.7040)
Preparation room: B08/09, (Ex.7024)