The Magnet Lab at the University of Florida (Gainesville)
A researcher studies MRI images produced at the Magnet Lab's AMRIS facilities in Gainesville.
Science Focus
The University of Florida is home to two Magnet Lab facilities, the Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy (AMRIS) facilities and the High B/T Facility (see map).
The Mag Lab's Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy capabilities are located at AMRIS, which is part of UF's McKnight Brain Institute. AMRIS houses a variety of state-of-the-art instruments for studies, including biological solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), solution NMR, microimaging, animal imaging and human imaging. These facilities allow researchers to take very high resolution images and do single cell imaging. For example, scientists can image the brain to study the effects of epilepsy, strokes, spinal cord injuries, tumors, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. AMRIS also is home to a 600 MHz, triple-resonance probe that appears to deliver the highest mass sensitivity of any probe at any frequency.
The High B/T Facility is housed in UF's Microkelvin Laboratory; the "B" stands for high magnetic fields, and the "T" refers to the extremely low temperatures. This facility gives physicists the reliability and precision needed for exploring phenomena at the lowest possible temperatures (far colder than any naturally-occurring place in our solar system) and opens new research opportunities in quantum fluids, semiconductor multi-layers and nuclear magnetism.
In addition to these resources, Magnet Lab users also have access to the Nanofabrication Facility, operated in conjunction with UF's Major Analytical Instrumentation Center, for the fabrication and characterization of nanostructures.
Key Facilities
At AMRIS:
- A powerful 11.7 tesla MRI system with a 40-centimeter bore capable of imaging small animals and allowing researchers to take higher resolution images of the brain to study the effects of various diseases and injuries
- A 17.5 tesla, 750 MHz wide bore NMR/MRI magnet system capable of taking very high quality three-dimensional images
- A 3 T human system
- An on-site RF coil lab
High B/T Program Director Neil Sullivan (far right) confers with staff scientists Liang Yin (far left) and Jian-sheng Xia.
At the High B/T Facility:
- A magnet system consisting of three interconnected superconducting magnets, with a combined field of up to 20 tesla
- An ultra-quiet environment that insulates experiments from outside interference due to vibrations and electromagnetic fields
Related Links
For more information on the High B/T Facility, contact Neil Sullivan at sullivan@phys.ufl.edu or (352) 846-3137, or visit the High B/T Web site.
For more information on AMRIS, contact Director Art Edison at art@mbi.ufl.edu or (352) 392-4535, or visit the AMRIS Web site.
