About Us
Who are we?
The Center for Imaging Research is a University of Cincinnati College of Medicine core facility dedicated to the in vivo study of human anatomy and physiology. As a core facility, the CIR's primary mission is to provide imaging research capabilities to scientific investigators at the University of Cincinnati. It is based on a 4.0 Tesla Varian Unity INOVA Whole Body MRI/MRS system.
Although the primary aim of the CIR is human neuroscience investigation, other organ systems (e.g. leg) can be studied as well. The MRI system permits visualization and measurement of human anatomy, organ function and organ chemistry in healthy subjects and patients. In addition to conducting neuroimaging studies, the CIR also develops hardware and software to support various imaging techniques.
Research at the CIR
The Center for Imaging Research has a comprehensive research program that studies the structure, function, and chemistry of the body (particularly the brain) in normal subjects and in disease states. The CIR also focuses on the development of imaging techniques such as MRI and MRS. For more information abut research at the CIR, please visit the research techniques page and the current projects page. More detailed information about faculty research interests can be found on the people page.
About the Scanner
The centerpiece of the CIR is a 4.0 Tesla Varian Unity INOVA Whole Body MRI/MRS system. This system is based on 92.5 cm Oxford 4.0-Tesla actively shielded superconducting magnet. The uniformity of this magnet is < 0.25 ppm over a 20 cm diameter volume at isocenter. The system is equipped with a Tesla actively-shielded body gradient with an open bore of 61.5 cm, a 33 mT/m maximum gradient strength, and a 250 sec rise time to provide sufficient flexibility for fMRI with echoplanar imaging (EPI) and other fast imaging methods. The system is also used for magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and spectroscopy (MRS). The INOVA system is controlled by a SUN workstation running Varian's VNMR-JTM image processing software under a Solaris based operating system. This system was installed in October of 2002 and has been optimized for functional neuroimaging and spectroscopy. It provides excellent signal to noise for EPI and MRS applications and for structural imaging.
Getting to CIR
The Center for Imaging Research is located in the Medical Sciences Building at the UC College of Medicine. Driving directions to the CIR and the Eden Parking garage can be found here.
You should park on the 5th floor of Eden garage, and go through the connecting tunnel towards the MSB (Medical Sciences building). Follow the signs to the MSB (green signs) and the E680 computer lab (purple signs). You will begin to see grey signs for the E681 Center for Imaging Research. Pass the computer lab (it will be on your left), and go to the end of the hall.
The CIR is on the right hand side of the hallway. Use the phone on the wall to contact your investigator or the MRI technologist in order to be let in. Please remember to bring your parking ticket with you in order to have it validated.
Information for Volunteers
Further information about the scanner and participation in our studies can be found here.