Purdue Magnetic Resonance Imaging Facility
The Purdue MRI Facility (West Lafayette, IN) has in place and operational a 3T General Electric (Milwaukee, WI) Signa HDx imager with EXCITE. This system is located in the Purdue Research Park, a five-minute distance from the main campus of Purdue University, in a facility shared with InnerVision West, a local out-patient imaging center. The Purdue MRI Facility is research-available over 50 hours per week, at a rate of $400 per hour, with an additional hour scheduled for set-up and tear-down for each scheduled scanning hour. The 3T MRI is equipped with proton spectroscopy for MRS and a real-time acquisition system for use with echo-planar fMRI. All data acquired on the MRI may be directly transferred via high-speed internet connection to the PI's computers at Purdue University for subsequent processing. Backups of data may be generated on-site using DVD-R or CD-R media.
For fMRI purposes, the Purdue MRI Facility is equipped with a NordicNeuroLab Audio/Visual system (electrostatic headphones plus 800x600 LCD goggles) for high-quality auditory and visual stimulation, and bimanual fiber optic button pads (Current Designs, Inc.) for recording subject responses. The Facility also provides an Audio/Visual computer (dual boot between Windows XP and Linux) with which stimuli may be presented and responses recorded (e.g., via e-Prime). In addition, the Facility provides a trigger box for stimulus synchronization and the ability to record physiologic data (respiration and heart rate) for post-acquisition use.
