Brain Imaging Center

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The Brain Imaging Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz houses two research-dedicated, wide-bore 3.0 T MRI scanners: a Siemens Skyra operating on syngo MR XA30 software and a GE SIGNA Premier XT operating on MR31 software. Together, these systems support advanced structural, functional, diffusion, spectroscopic, and quantitative imaging across neuro, body, and musculoskeletal research applications.

The Siemens Skyra is equipped with high-performance gradient coils (45 mT/m at 200 T/m/s), a 32-channel head coil, a 20-channel phased-array RF neurovascular coil, a body and spine coil with 32 elements, and flex coils. The system has a 70 cm bore opening and a weight capacity of 550 lbs to accommodate larger subjects. Capabilities include True Form Field of View up to 50 cm × 50 cm × 45 cm, multiband sequences, fMRI, MR elastography, multinuclear spectroscopy, arterial spin labeling, echo-planar imaging, 4D Flow, LiverLab®, and cardiac T1 and T2 mapping. Quiet Suite is capable of reducing sequence sound pressure levels by up to 70%.

Siemens resources available for stimulus delivery and response recording include an MR-compatible goggle system with eye tracking and noise-canceling headphones (Resonance Technology, Inc.), a unilateral five-finger response pad (fORP), two two-finger response pads and a four-button response box (Cedrus Corp.), and bilateral five-finger response pads (Psychology Software Tools, PST).

The GE SIGNA Premier XT features a 70 cm bore, high-performance gradients (80 mT/m at 200 T/m/s, with 100% duty cycle), and a 146-channel Total Digital Imaging (TDI) RF architecture, supporting high-SNR, high-resolution structural, diffusion, and functional imaging. AIR™ Recon DL reconstruction and HyperWorks acceleration technologies support efficient multimodal acquisition. High-order shimming optimizes field homogeneity for spectroscopy and quantitative imaging. Capabilities include single-voxel and multivoxel chemical shift spectroscopy, multinuclear imaging, arterial spin labeling, fMRI, MR elastography (MR Touch), IDEAL IQ for quantitative fat and iron assessment, and cardiac T1 and T2 mapping. High-density, flexible AIR™ coil technology, including a 48-channel head coil and multipurpose arrays, supports neuro, body, and musculoskeletal applications. Motion correction and silent imaging technologies further support data quality and participant comfort.

GE resources available for stimulus delivery and response recording include a NordicNeuroLab 40-inch high-definition MR-compatible display with an MRI Audio sound system, a five-finger response pad and two two-finger response pads (fORP), and bilateral five-finger response pads (Psychology Software Tools, PST).

Additional Center resources include a high-speed eye-tracking system (Cambridge Research Systems) and an MR-compatible pulse oximeter (Nonin Medical, Inc.). The Center uses a cloud server that allows users to remotely access, download, and transfer imaging data.

Hours of Operation

Monday - Friday: 7am - 7pm

Touring

Our staff would be pleased to show you the facility.  Please contact the Brain Imaging Center to schedule a tour.