Getting Started

Summary

To get started scanning at the MRIF you need to have a project description, funding source, and a current IRB approval to scan human subjects. When you have all of this information, you can then proceed to enter your project in the MRIF booking system for approval by the Scientific Director. Once your project is approved, the PI can then inform their research time that they can request access to the project to book time against it. All members of the research team must comply with the regulations in the MRIF Safety Manual and those outlined later in this document.

Key Steps

1. PI registers on project and booking management system. Once your account is approved you can proceed to step 2. https://fsu-mri.calpendo.com/
2. Submit a new project request. Please assemble this list before you start so you can simply cut’n’paste, you will need all of the following information:
   1. A project name
   2. Proposed start and end dates
   3. Funding Agency (e.g., NIMH, NIDA, NINDS, NSF, etc) and Grant Number
   4. An abstract (500 characters maximum)
   5. Proposed analytic strategy (A brief overview, 500 words max)
   6. Description of Participants (e.g., number; age; gender; diagnosis, if applicable; 100 words max. E.g., 50 Unmedicated adolescents with major depressive disorder and 50 healthy controls will be included in this study )
   7. Total number of subjects to be scanned
   8. For billing purposes, we need the following:
      1. Business manager contact details (these cannot be the same as the PI)
         1. First and last names
         2. E-mail address
         3. Phone number
      2. Purchase Order details, including:
         1. PO Number
         2. Line Number on PO
         3. Expiration date
         4. Encumbrance amount
      3. IRB approval number
      4. IRB approval letter (PDF only)
      5. IRB approval expiration date
      6. IRB Approved protocol
      7. Though not mandatory, it would be helpful if you could select the MRIF provided resources your project will use (e.g., 20-channel head coil, 32-channel head coil, 64-channel head coil, fMRI conditional EEG system, 3D visual projection, Eye tracker)

Once you submit your project, it can no longer be edited.

The project will then be reviewed by the MRIF Scientific Director. If modifications are necessary, the Scientific Director will contact the PI separately and suggest changes. You will then be able to login to the project and booking management system, edit your project and resubmit.

Once the scientific director has approved the PI’s project, MRIF staff will verify the PO number, PO line, and encumbrance amount. When both of these steps (scientific director approval and PO verification) are complete, the PI will receive an email informing them that their project has been approved.

The PI may then inform their research staff that they may register on the project and booking management system. Thereafter, research staff can request access to the PI’s project. Once staff request access, the PI will receive an email requesting that access to the project be granted or denied. When the PI has granted project access to their staff they can make bookings against the PI’s project if and only if they have been safety trained and have a current metal screening form on file with the MRIF.

The PI will receive automated emails two and one month prior to the expiration of their IRB approval to remind them to seek renewed IRB approval. After the expiration of the IRB approval for a project, no bookings will be permitted. Prior to IRB expiration, bookings that would occur after the expiration of IRB approval will not be permitted.

IRB Review Requirement

Studies proposing to scan human subjects will NOT be permitted at the MRIF without IRB approval.

Animal Studies

At present, animal studies are not permitted at the MRIF. Should you need to perform animal studies, please contact colleagues at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

Eligibility

Only FSU faculty, postdocs, staff research assistants, and graduate students are permitted to access the project management and booking system. Individuals external to FSU will need an FSU sponsor to be eligible to access the MRIF.

Access to the Control and Magnet Rooms

Only individuals who have undertaken safety training and have a current metal screening form on file with MRIF staff are permitted to access the control and magnet rooms. Safety training must be renewed yearly. Likewise, the metal screening form is valid for one year and must be renewed annually. Any change to your health and well-being that could result in your being ineligible to enter the magnet room must be reported to MRIF personnel immediately. If you have any doubt please consult with MRIF personnel. You will receive reminder emails two months prior to the one-year anniversary of your safety training and your metal screening to permit plenty of time for renewal. If you fail to renew either your safety training or metal screening form before their respective anniversary date passes, your access to the MRIF will be revoked until they are renewed. More details regarding the safety procedures can be found in the MRIF Safety Manual.

Scheduling Bookings

Once a project is approved, the PI or their staff may log in to the booking system to make bookings for the project. The smallest permissible booking is 30 mins. Thereafter, bookings can grow in 15 min increments. So, for example, 30, 45, 60 and 75 mins would be valid booking lengths but 15 mins would not. We encourage you to not leave 15 min blocks between bookings. If too many of these unusable 15 mins blocks occur as the MRIF becomes busier, it may be necessary to revise this policy and mandate that all bookings be multiples of 30 mins.

Cancellation Policy

1. You have 24 hours from the time the booking is placed to cancel your booking. If you cancel within the 24-hour period you incur no responsibility for that time slot. Beyond the 24-hour period, if, after cancelling a reservation, another PI reserves part or all of the same time slot, the first PI is no longer responsible for the portion of the slot booked by the second PI. Any portion of a cancelled time slot that is not reserved by another PI remains the responsibility of the first PI. This gives rise to the definition of Lost hours, that is those hours that were previously booked by a PI, cancelled beyond the 24-hour grace period and that were not subsequently reserved after cancellation. PIs will not be charged for lost hours but lost hours will count negatively in the computation of bonus pilot hours accrued by a PI.
2. Paid hours are those total hours that are used by a project each calendar month.
3. Pilot hours: Bonus hours calculated at a rate of 25% of the paid hours. The number of potential pilot hours will be calculated as 25% of the paid hours used by each project. To calculate the net pilot hours, the number of lost hours will be subtracted from the number of potential pilot hours (i.e., net pilot hours = potential pilot hours - lost hours).
4. MRIF has targeted the number of acceptable maximum lost hours at 25% of paid hours, though this level may be subject to change. If the number of net pilot hours it greater than zero, those net pilot hours will be added to the PI’s pilot hours account. If the number of net pilot hours is less than zero, then that number of hours will be subtracted from the PI’s pilot hours account. Consider the following examples covering one calendar month:

   Paid Hours of scanning	Maximum lost hours (25% of paid ours)	Actual Lost hours	Pilot hours accrued/deducted
   32	8	0	8
   32	8	1	7
   32	8	5	3
   32	8	10	-2

5. Individual pilot hours accounts are created for each of a PI’s projects. At the request of a PI, it is possible to reconcile pilot hours across all of a PI’s projects. It is therefore possible to offset accounts that have gone negative, by subtracting an equivalent number of hours form pilot accounts with a positive balance. In this way, the full suite of a PI’s projects is required to meet the acceptable lost hours level of 25% rather than each individual project.

Initial Pilot Hours

Each PI is awarded a one-off initial allotment of 10 hours of pilot time. These hours may be allocated to one or more of a PI’s projects at their request. To have the initial 10 hours allocated to your projects, send an email to mri-facility@fsu.edu. Include in your email the list of projects and how you would like your hours split across them. This initial award is not protected from being penalized for lost hours as outlined above. PIs may use pilot hours for whatever purpose they see fit. Time that is booked against pilot hours does not enter into the bonus pilot hours mechanism mentioned above.

Billing Adjustments for Technical Problems

If an issue arises with the scanner or any ancillary equipment (visual projection equipment, response boxes, MRI EEG system, eye tracker) provided by the MRIF that prevents you from gathering your data there will be no charge for the lost time. Technical problems must be reported within five days of a reservation using the problem report mechanism in the booking system (see [insert URL here] for instructions on how do this). Issues that are reported 5 days after a reservation will not be eligible for billing adjustment.

Time lost due to factors within the control of the PI (e.g., participant not showing up, the PI having no available research staff to cover the scan session, claustrophobic subjects who should have been screened out, failure of equipment provided by the PI, etc.) will NOT be reimbursed.

Scanning Cost

After Hours Scanning

Normal times of operations are 8am – 5pm Monday to Friday, university vacation days excepted. If you want to make a booking for an evening or weekend, please contact the MR Technologist to arrange the booking. The MR Technologist will enter the reservation into the booking system and ensure that is allocated to the correct project.

Equipment Installation

Equipment installation in the equipment, control, and scanner rooms that is required for a PI’s research program will be facilitated at no cost to the PI. To arrange for a reservation to facilitate such equipment installation email mri-facility@fsu.edu.

Etiquette

No food or drink is permitted in the control room or magnet room. The sole exception to this policy is for projects that require the presence of part of their scientific protocol, e.g., gustatory or olfactory studies.

The time reserved in the booking system is the total time for access to the scanner, not for actual scanning. In each reservation, appropriate time must be allocated for both setup and clean up. You are expected to vacate the scanner promptly at or before the end of your reserved time slot since the next group to reserve time on the scanner is paying for time as soon as their reservation begins. MRIF reserves the right to audit scanner usage and bill for time that was used but not reserved. Users can expect to enter the scanner environs at that start of their reserved time slot and expect the scanner to be clean and ready for use.

Project personnel are responsible for cleaning up the magnet room after a study. This includes placing all used linens and scrubs in the laundry hamper, wiping down all used foam padding and the magnet table cover with disinfecting wipes. All used response pads and button boxes must be returned to their assigned storage positions. The default (white) projection screen should be placed in the bore of the magnet. The default setup for the VPixx projector is 2D projection. If you used the polarizer for 3D imaging, it should be moved to the side so that the default of 2D image projection is restored.

In short, please leave all facilities clean and tidy as a courtesy to both MRIF staff and other users of the facility.

No more than 5 people (including the MRI Technologist) are permitted in the scanner control room during scan sessions.