Center for Advanced MRI

3T Start Up Procedure

1. In the control room, turn the plasma screen power on.
2. Turn the magnet room lights on. The switches for these lights, marked “Zone 1” and “Zone 2,” are located just to the left of the plasma screen.
3. A key for the magnet room can be found next to the Invivo monitoring machine, on the grounding bolt located on the patch panel.
4. Press the “System On” button located on the Siemens box on the wall.
5. Go into the magnet room and disconnect any coils that are plugged in to the scanner table.
6. Position the scanner bed in its home position, raised all the way and out of the magnet.
7. The entire scanner start up procedure takes 20 to 25 minutes from complete power off. This includes 15 minutes for the RF amplifier to warm up.
8. During the start up procedure, you should see numbers counting down on the monitor.
9. When the countdown is over, the system is still not ready but you should see the exam task screen. At this point, you are able to review images and interact with the operating system but you cannot scan. The RF amplifier is starting to warm up.
10. To review start up progress, go to the top tool bar and choose “System Control.”
11. Choose the “Image Recon System” tab. Everything should be running.
12. Choose the “MR Scanner” tab: GPAK, RFPA, PALI, STIMO will not be “OK.” All others should be running. The scanner is bringing hardware components online. Wait. Do not move the scanner table or plug coils into table.
13. You will hear three to four consecutive “champagne pop” sounds. The GPAK, RFPA, PALI and STIMO should change to “OK.” You can now scan.
14. It is a good idea to run a phantom with your imaging protocol for 10 to 15 minutes before you collect real data to make sure the hardware is warmed up and stable.
15. If the monitor displays a box that says “Restart,” click it. You do not have to press the “System On” button on the wall again, but you still have to wait 15 to 20 minutes for the components to come online.

3T Shut Down Procedure

1. Bring the scanner table all the way out and leave it all the way up (the table home position).
2. Unplug any coils from the scanner table.
3. Turn off the lights in the magnet room.
4. Lock the magnet room door and return key to its place next to the Invivo monitoring machine, on the grounding bolt located on the patch panel.
5. Turn off the projector.
6. Turn off the plasma TV.
7. Go to the top tool bar and choose: “System” -> “End” -> “Shutdown.”
8. This is a five-minute procedure as the computer shuts down the Siemens operating system and prepares the computer to be turned off.
9. Once you get the box that says it is safe to turn of the computer, you can push the “System Off” button on the wall power box.
10. Do not press “Standby.”
11. DO NOT press the red button (magnet quench button) behind the plastic cover.

3T Audio and Video Instructions

Audio

1. Power on the Tuner
2. Select the Video/Aux input selector on the Tuner
3. Power On the Equalizer
4. Confirm Equalizer settings
   a. Equalize button in
   b. Monitor button out
   c. Cassette out
   d. Record Equalize in
5. Select input from switch box on top of stereo rack

Audio through the Siemens headphones at the table and the speaker in the magnet room – one-way communication.

• Select speaker B on the tuner. The volume control determines the output. The headphone and speaker volume are controlled at the magnet control panel. Setting the volume so that the sound clips causes the patient emergency signal to activate.

Audio through the Avotec headphones – two-way communication

• The audio signal is automatically set up. Flip the microphone switch up to send the audio to the subject. The volume is controlled by the top volume knob on the device. Set the level so that half of the lights are lit up to deliver enough sound to the subject.

Audio in the control room – monitor the stimulus

• Select speaker A on the tuner. The volume is controlled by the volume knob on the tuner. Remember this also is sent to the subject so be careful.

Video

To display your script to the projector

1. Use the stimulation computer or connect your laptop to the video in connector
2. Use the stimulation computer to connect to the projector by running the ELP Link program – small icon on the system tray
   a. It will fail the first time.
   b. Select Com 2 and try again.
   c. Turn on the projector with the power button.
   d. It should take a few minutes for the bulb to warm up.
3. Run your experiment
4. Turn off the projector through the stimulation computer.

To send a movie to the projector:

1. Put the DVD in the player and play. The remote control for the player is on the speaker to the right of the TV.
2. Select the DVD setting on the switch box.
3. Set up the audio as described above.
4. Turn on the TV and select the appropriate display to see the movie. (not necessary but allows you to make the correct selections with the remote)
5. Go to the stimulation computer to the left of the MR console.
6. Run the ELP Link software to turn on the projector. Small icon on system tray
   a. It will fail the first time.
   b. Select Com 2 and try again.
   c. Turn on the projector with the power button.
   d. It should take a few minutes for the bulb to warm up.
7. Set the video setting of the computer to 16-bit color and a 1024×768 screen
   a. Right click in an open field of the computer screen to access this.
8. Run WinTV2000 – small icon in the system tray
   a. It should default to the video with a small screen
   b. Enlarge to full screen by hitting the rabbit ears on the upper right of the window.
9. Exit full screen by right clicking the movie.
10. When you are finished, turn off projector and audio equipment.

3T Troubleshooting

Verify that the system will not work by re-running the “Scout/Localizer” protocol. If it works, the system is working and your sequence/protocol is corrupt. If it fails, then follow the procedures below to determine the source of the error.

There are three main components of the MR system:

1. HOST COMPUTER
2. IMAGE RECONSTRUCTION COMPUTER
3. MR SCANNER

You can check the components’ status by going to the “System Manager” interface at the top of the toolbar via the SYSTEM CONTROL option. Choose “System Manager.”

The first tab describes the HOST COMPUTER. The first five applications should be running (green). The other applications may or may not be started depending on what programs you are running. These are not system critical. If one of the first five is not running, or you think that one of the programs should be running, click on it and this will restart the application. If that does not solve the problem, then you should restart the Siemens Syngo application. If that does not fix the problem then you need to reboot the HOST COMPUTER.

The second tab describes the IMAGE RECONSTRUCTION COMPUTER status. Everything in the IMAGE RECONSTRUCTION tab should be running. If one application is not running (red) you can click on it to restart it. If that does not solve the problem, then you should reboot the image reconstruction computer located on this tab. If that does not fix the problem then you need to reboot the HOST.

The third tab describes the MR SCANNER status. You can choose the application that is not running (red) and reboot it. This will take two to five minutes, depending on the specific application. If the problem is with the GPAK, RFPA, PALI, STIMO this usually indicates that the patient safety monitoring has been triggered. It needs to be reset. You should remove the subject from the magnet and return the table to its home position, all the way up and all the way out of the magnet. Disconnect any coils plugged into the table. Reboot the scanner by selecting ”System” -> “End” -> “Reboot Host” from the main toolbar. This will take about 15 to 20 minutes. You should hear the three “champagne pops” indicating that the system is ready. If you see a red line through any of the icons at the bottom of the screen, this indicates a problem. You should check on the error by clicking the item and reading the description. It should indicate what to do.