MRI sequence parameters

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Each MRI project has a unique set of acquisition parameters that vary depending on the type of sequences and tasks that will be included in that particular study.

The MRI sequences to be used, as well as the acquisition parameters for these sequences, must be communicated to UNF staff before your pilot acquisition session. A minimum delay of one week before your pilot session is strongly recommended to ensure that the protocol can be created with the right parameters before your arrival.

What must be done:

Antenna Selection

• This depends on what part of the body you are going to study in your experiment and what type of sequences are included in your project, as well as the peripheral equipment you plan to use (eye tracking equipment, auditory stimuli, etc.).

• For head-level acquisitions, you have to choose between a 20, 32 or 64 channel antenna. You can contact the UNF staff for information for any additional information regarding the choice of antenna for your study.

List of sequences

The different sequences used correspond to the types of images you want to acquire, for example functional imaging (BOLD), DWI, spectroscopy, anatomical imaging, etc. The types of sequences used for your study must be part of the protocol that has been approved by the scientific and ethics committees for your project.

To configure your protocol, it is important to know the number of MRI sequences that you will use, their type, the order in which they will be executed, as well as their duration.

Settings

Each MRI sequence is defined by a set of values called parameters. Parameters that need to be configured for each sequence include but are not limited to TR/TE, delay in TR, FOV, number of slices, voxel size, etc.

Protocol

The choice of the antenna, the list of MRI sequences used for your project as well as the values of the parameters associated with them constitute your protocol. Once defined, it normally remains constant for the rest of your study. It is strongly recommended that a document describing the details of the protocol and listing these choices (antenna, sequences and parameters) be signed by the technologist and the researcher at the start of the study to ensure that everyone is agree on the protocol used.

Project name for the MRI scanner

• The names of participants are not used for research projects at UNF.

• Each project uses a project-specific code and participant identifier.

• Choose something that relates to your project, participant and session number.

You will use this information to download your data when you are ready to begin data analysis. It is therefore important to always keep the same name to facilitate data retrieval and analysis later in the project; for example: WMT_001 for a study with a Working Memory Task..