| | DIRP Functional MRI Core Facility
Peter Bandettini, PhD, Core Facility Director
The functional MRI Facility (FMRIF) is a core resource serving the intramural research program. It was initiated in 1999 primarily by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Its function is to serve as a resource by which all NIH institutes can perform functional MRI (fMRI) studies to further the understanding of healthy and diseased brain function and physiology. More specifically, the Facility provides a complete environment for stimulus presentation, monitoring and recording subject behavior and physiology while performing functional MRI. Additional services include providing for temporary data storage, data transfer, instruction on running the scanner, as well as assistance, during working hours, in performing fMRI. At present, the Facility has 3 General Electric 3 Tesla MRI scanners. The human scanners currently service the research of over 25 principle investigators in NIMH, NINDS, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Institute of Child and Human Development (NICHD), and National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders (NIDCD).Since 2000, there have been over 350 papers produced by researchers at the NIH using the core facility scanners and services. |
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Brief History of the FMRIF |
The FMRIF began operation in September of 1999 when the newly acquired GE 3T scanner first started collecting functional data. In November of 2001 a second GE 3T was delivered. It started operation in August of 2002. A third GE 3T was purchased in August of 2003. A 1.5T scanner devoted to functional MRI of clinical populations was obtained from the NMR center in 2005. This fall the center is completing a major renovation and upgrade of our original 3T systems. The new scanning suite, equipped with two new GE 3Tesla scanners is scheduled to begin service in October (2007), so that we will have a total of three GE 3T systems dedicated primarily for NIMH and NINDS researchers. The staff of the core facility has grown to meet the demands of the research community. The FMRIF currently has a total of 14 full time employees (4 Ph.D. Physicists) who ensure that the facility provides cutting edge fMRI research capability. Other services include scanner operation and instruction, subject interface device development and maintenance, data transfer and storage infrastructure, and multiple web-based services. The FMRIF continues to expand as the demand by NIH investigators performing fMRI in their studies continues to grow. Off hour scanning staff were hired to more fully utilize available scan time.
The staff of the FMRIF continues to be committed to maintaining a world-class fMRI scanning environment, providing capability for exploring brain function, physiology, and morphology in healthy volunteers and clinical populations.
Website: http://fnif.nimh.nih.gov/
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