The Magnetic Resonance Systems Laboratory (MRSL) at Texas A&M University consists of approximately 9000 sq. ft. of research space in the University Services Building (USB). The lab houses 4.7T / 33 cm and 4.7T / 40 cm MRI scanners both supported by Varian Unity/Inova spectrometers, and a 1.0T OrthOne human extremity scanner. An RF lab of approximately 1000 sq. ft. is adjacent to the MRSL, containing state-of-the-art Agilent network analyzers, a reflow soldering system and printed circuit fabrication facilities. An additional 800 sq. ft. RF lab with soldering stations, network analyzers, and PCB fabrication capability is located on the main campus in the Emerging Technologies Building for convenience for the students. The Lab is focused on the development of instrumentation and methodology for novel MRI applications.
A 7T/40 cm MR Solutions DryMag scanner has been funded through the Texas A&M Research Development Fund program. Inititially slated to be operational in March 2022, installation has been delayed, but we are looking forward to this exciting new system!
Radiofrequency / electronics lab and machine shop: The MRSL is equipped with a variety of electronics test equipment including several network analyzers, digitizing oscilloscopes, and National Instruments instrument suites for generating additional gradient channels, acoustic signal generation, motion control, etc. Additionally, there is a light machine shop in the lab with a drill press, bandsaw, box-maker, and milling machine for manufacturing mechanical housings for RF coils and other devices. 3D printing capabilities for phantoms and coil formers are quickly and regularly available via shared facilities on the main campus.
Computer equipment: The MRSL has a variety of workstations equipped with MATLAB for purposes of processing data from the MR systems, a number of computers devoted to instrument control running National Instruments LabVIEW, and one high speed workstation dedicated to running numerical electromagnetic simulations using Remcom XF7 finite difference time domain modeling software.