Facilities and Resources
The UTHealth Houston Behavioral Science Imaging Center is located at the Behavioral and Biomedical Sciences Building (BBSB) at the Texas Medical Center. The center is equipped with a research-dedicated state of the art 3T Siemens MAGNETOM Cima.X scanner with 64 channels head coil and X-nuclear capabilities. The scanner offers the highest-performance gradients of all clinically approved systems, The imaging center has a scanner room, a nursing/laboratory room, a research participant waiting area, a change area, and 3 additional offices. The scanner room is provided with MRI compatible anesthesia machine for animal imaging and full set of monitoring equipment. The imaging center uses approximately 6500sqft and 20 separate offices, plus about 8 laboratories and multiple cubicle spaces that includes mock scanner space. The BSIC hosts a computational facility is a part of the Research and Education Network (REN) and serves as the core hub on the high-speed REN collaboration. It provides computational support to NIH/NSF funded projects with REN and extramural institutions. The center takes 600sqft of space in the center. The center offers over 1200 CPU Cores and 26 NVIDA TESLA A100 GPU systems equipped with 6912 cores and 128-512GB of memory each, optimized for machine learning and high-throughput imaging genetic analyses. A Magstim super rapid2 plus 1 rTMS system for rTMS and theta burst TMS, a Brainsight brain neuronavigation system (Rogue Institute), and about 5 different types of coils are available for different research purposes. In addition, the TMS Lab include two additional TMS systems: Brainsway deep TMS 104 system and Mag&More PowerMAG ppTMS system.
MRI Compatible EEG System
To facilitate true multi-modal neuroimaging, the MRI facility also includes an MRI compatible 64-channel EEG system (Brain Products GmbH, Germany). This permits simultaneous acquisition of high-spatial resolution functional MRI and high-temporal resolution EEG. The MRI compatible EEG system consists of in-bore MR safe amplifiers, software that corrects for gradient and RF pulses induced artifacts in the EEG signal in real-time and offline mode of operation.
MRI Compatible Peripheral Physiology System
Peripheral physiological measures in the MRI are collected using the BrainAmp EEG MR 8-channel system (Brain Products, Germany). Bipolar and peripheral signals of EOG, ECG, EMG, GSR, and respiration can be acquired in an extremely compact setup.
Visual Projection System
BSIC provides users with ePrime and Presentation software that deliver visual stimulation through Hyperion MRI Visual Projection System. The system supports up to 120 Hz refresh rate with a 5 ms gray-to-gray response time, ensuring precise and rapid visual presentations. The digital video input module (AVI) synchronizes with a 1920×1080 resolution at 120 Hz, delivering video output. Additionally, our setup is compatible iPads and streaming devices.
Participants Response System
BSIC users have access to an MRI-compatible fiber-optic response system made by Current Designs, Inc. This response system automatically detects handheld devices, incorporates optical triggering, and supports up to 32 channels with automatic gain adjustment and device identification. Available response devices include 1, 4, and 5 button response pads, left and right hand paired button pads, as well as scroll-click and trackball response devices.
Physiological Measurements
For physiological monitoring during scans, BSIC provides users with BioPac MRI-compatible equipment. The equipment and software suite includes the AcqKnowledge and the workflow analysis automation software, modules for ECG, SpO2, blood pressure, pulse, beat-by-beat arterial blood pressure, respiration, electrodermal activity, stimulator for nerve conduction, evoked response and somatosensory studies and other measurements.