(f)MRI for newbies

Get acquainted

Kickstart your (f)MRI learning journey by engaging in the following key activities:

Subscribe to the MR mailing listBrowse documentationParticipate in a study

• How to subscribe:
  Join the MR mailing list by visiting this link. Make sure you are logged in and click on "Subscribe or Unsubscribe" in the menu on the top right. Provide your first and last name and hit the subscribe button. A confirmation request will be sent to your email address. Your subscription will be completed if you respond to this request within 48h.
• Purpose of the list:
  This mailing list is used by the MR Safety Officer to report on the status of the MRI equipment and announce upcoming MR safety courses. It also allows MRI researchers to ask each other questions about MRI practices and possible issues.

• The lab's resources:
  Documentation related to (f)MRI studies is available in this Hoplab Teams folder, including manuals, protocols, and information on safety procedures. Regular updates and additional resources will be added to this folder, so make sure to stay informed by regularly checking the documentation.
• MRI dropbox folder:
  The radiology department of UZ Leuven also provides documentation related to the experimental use of the research MRI scanner (MR8) in this Dropbox folder.

• Get involved:
  Interested in participating in an (f)MRI study? Discover ongoing studies within our faculty by visiting this Facebook page or by following this page on X (formerly Twitter). To sign up for a study, simply register through the faculty's Experiment Management System (EMS).
• What to expect:
  As a participant in an (f)MRI study, you'll contribute valuable research data by getting your brain scanned. This is a unique opportunity to gain firsthand experience in how (f)MRI studies are conducted.

Before you start

Before diving into your (f)MRI study, make sure you're prepared by following the steps below.

Get formal ethical approval

Follow the yellow section of the flowchart to make sure everything is in order for you to start scanning.

1. Register your study at the CTC: After this you receive an S-number (for more info, we refer you to this page).
2. Register your study at the MR research department: Upload the application form for support from the Radiology department via this link. Include the Clinical Study Coordinator of Radiology (currently, that is lesley.cockmartin@uzleuven.be) as contact person, who will approve your request via email.
3. Get approval from the ethical committee of UZ/KU Leuven: For more info, we refer you to this page.
4. Follow the MR safety course: And become an authorized user of the MRI-scanner (see below).

Attend the MR safety course

• Course dates:
  This course is organized twice a year by Dr. Ron(ald) Peeters, the MR Safety Officer. The exact course dates will be announced via the MR mailing list, and are typically in February and September.
• Preparation:
  Before attending, carefully read the Safety notes, rules & procedures document in the MRI dropbox folder, which you can find here. In the dropbox folder, you can also find the slides used in a previous safety course (2020 version). Additionally, in our Hoplab Teams folder, you can find some additional safety information.

Gain access to MR facilities

1. Document submission

   • After obtaining ethical approval, send the completed MR Access file and the approved ICF to ilse.roebben@uzleuven.be and silvia.kovacs@uzleuven.be.

   • Before entering the Controlled Area for the first time, complete the following:

     • MRI Safety Checklist
     • Appendix confirming you completed the MR safety course
     • Key and badge access form

     Send all three documents to ronald.peeters@uzleuven.be, along with the S-number of your study and the following details:

     Field	Value (to be filled in)
     First name
     Last name
     Place of birth
     Date of birth
     Start date
     Expiry date
     Purpose	Scanning on research scanner MR (MR8)
     Educational institution	KU Leuven
     National register number
     KU Leuven u-number
     Email address
     Extranet required	No
     Phone number

2. Card activation for MR suite access:
   After you have completed all the steps above, Ron will arrange everything and you will automatically gain access to MR8 with your KU Leuven staff/student card.

Training and preparation

Before you can become an Authorized Other User (AOU), you must undergo practical training and testing:

1. Observational training:
   After reviewing all relevant documentation, observe scan procedures by joining sessions of your colleagues. We have an internal slack channel to keep track of upcoming scans, so make sure you are invited to it if you want to be up to date.

2. Testing protocols:
   Before your pilot (f)MRI session with an actual participant, set up your sequences and test your experiment script. Book a phantom session by contacting Dr. Ron(ald) Peeters at ronald.peeters@uzleuven.be. If needed, you can find specific info on the projector screen here.

Independent scanning

You are allowed to conduct scans independently after attending approximately 10 sessions with experienced personnel (e.g., more senior colleagues). This will help you learn how to control the scanner effectively. After 2 sessions, you should know how to control the scanner and you are allowed to be the second researcher during a scan session outside office hours.

During your experiment

Understand and follow the detailed MR scan procedures to ensure efficient and safe usage of the MRI facilities.

Scanner procedures

All referenced documents are regularly updated and available in the Hoplab Teams folder. Ensure you read the latest versions before proceeding.

• Booking the scanner:
  Once you completed all steps above, you can book the scanner via the MRI scientific planning agenda. Details on how to do this can be found in the instructions for use on the planner webiste, the MRI Planning Agenda located in the Hoplab Teams folder and in Safety notes, rules & procedures (pages 8-11) located in the MRI dropbox folder. Note that some periods are booked for users from our faculty. Time slots named Reserved for core user psychology on the calendar are for any researcher from our faculty to use.

• Using the Scanner:
  Operational guidelines for the MR scanner are outlined in the fMRI protocol_MR8_October2019 document, available in the Hoplab Teams folder. There, you can also find a useful checklist that you can use as a reminder during scanning. For detailed information on what to do before, during and after a scan, please refer to the ]Scanning procedure](fmri-scanning-procedure.md) page.

Managing scan data and invoicing

• Tracking sessions:
  Keep detailed records of all scan sessions, noting which sessions provided useful data and/or when you experienced technical issues. Regular reports should be made to your Principal Investigator (PI). In case of technical issues, it is useful to also include what kind of issues you had as well as an estimation of the amount of time lost due to the issues.

• Quarterly reports:
  Every four months, your PI will receive an Excel sheet listing all scan sessions conducted during that period. This file will be forwarded to all researchers who have scanned in the corresponding period.

• Documenting experiments:
  Complete the Excel sheet with the experiment name for each session and clearly note down comments for any session that did not yield useful data for various reasons (e.g., participant cancellation, no-shows, artifacts, technical issues) and send it back.

• Financial management:
  Support staff (currently Klara) will further process the file by including the name of the SAP antenna (i.e., An Van Kets), specifying the funding source for each researcher, and by adjusting the total invoice amount on the invoice to reflect the actual scan hours based on successful data collection sessions ("corrected total").