IMPORTANT: Failure to follow the following rules will result in temporary loss of scanning privileges, and repeated infractions could result in permanent loss of those privileges. If you are unclear about any of the below requirements please contact Daniel Procissi and/or Sol Misener for specific answers and for training on appropriate procedures.
- ACUC COMPLIANCE. You should be compliant with all IACUC requirements for animal handling and for the procedures which you will be performing. The specific animal protocol for your study needs to be current and a copy must be brought to the Small Animal facility. An approved amendment citing existing approved animal procedures (AAP) for either MRI and/or PET/CT will have been submitted previously and approved by IACUC (contact Sol Misener s-misener@northwestern.edu and Daniel Procissi d-procissi@northwestern.edu for details)
- SAFETY TRAINING COMPLIANCE. You must be compliant with overall CTI MRI safety requirements to gain access to Small Animal facility
- RADIATION SAFETY COMPLIANCE. If radioactive materials and animals will be handled by investigator he/she will need to undergo Radiation Safety Training and be registered as a radiation worker under ISIS http://www.research.northwestern.edu/ors/isis/index.html
- FRESH ANIMAL CAGES. Before you leave the Lurie Vivarium you need to transfer your animals to a new and clean cage and provide fresh water and food. If you enter the Small Animal Imaging lab with dirty cages you will need to return to the vivarium in Lurie and replace them with clean cages before you are allowed to scan (i.e. no scan can occur if you fail to have clean cages) . This is a requirement from CCM and is important to avoid cross contamination (i.e. non-compliance with this rule can lead to shut down of theMRI facility)
- ANIMAL PROCEDURES AND STORAGE. All procedures must be undertaken in the animal room and behind closed doors according to CCM requirements. Do not leave cages outside the animal room. If you need to move the animal in the cage from the animal room to the MRI, use the cart and immediately return the cart and cage to the animal room.
- RECORD KEEPING. The NUCORE ( https://nucore.northwestern.edu/facilities/cti_7t ) calendar records the time you have booked and will be billed for, however we need to keep records of actual usage (i.e. the time you have reserved, plus the time you use in addition to reserved time and for which you will not be billed).
- ANESTHESIA 1. When using the anesthesia setup in the animal room make sure to use the evac canister to scavenge excess isofluorane or if available connect to the active scavenger line. You will need to weigh the canister you are using before and right after usage. This is very important and again an essential requirements from CCM.
- ANESTHESIA 2. Make sure to turn the anesthesia off (both the air and/or oxygen flowmeter and the isofluorane vaporizer)
- MRI and PET/CT SETUP. Since several groups are using the facility performing a variety of different imaging projects you will need to get trained on setting up your own experiment.
This involves:- Installing the appropriate rf coil
- Connecting the anesthesia for the specific animal setup you are using
- Connecting the appropriate water heating circuit to the holder.
**Once your experiment is over, you will need to remove your setup and clean it (training will be provided on how to do so appropriately)
- BACK UP. After each experiment you should back up your data. You can do this using the CD/DVD writer and provided CD/DVDs or by bringing your own USB drive and mapping it onto the Siemens platform (contact Daniel Procissi, Sol Misener for USB backup procedure)
- GENERAL CLEANLINESS AND DISPOSABLES.
