Biomedical Imaging Research Facilities
Biomedical imaging research facilities for NYU Langone’s Department of Radiology and the Center for Advanced Imaging Innovation and Research (CAI2R) are primarily located at 660 First Avenue in Manhattan, where several specialized research laboratories and a busy imaging clinic facilitate close collaboration among clinicians, scientists, and imaging technologists.
We have the scientific infrastructure to support all stages of the development and translation of novel imaging technologies to the clinic. Our radiology research instrumentation includes multiple leading-edge imaging systems, a research-only MRI test bay, a state-of-the-art radiofrequency (RF) engineering laboratory, a radiochemistry facility, and high-performance computing clusters.
Our research scientists also have access to a fully equipped small-animal imaging laboratory, which is partially supported by CAI2R, and to a comprehensive range of scientific cores and shared resources.
Human Imaging Systems
Our main location at 660 First Avenue is home to three state-of-the-art human MR scanners and a PET/MR imaging system:
- Two Siemens Prisma 3-Tesla (3T) MR scanners
- Siemens 7T whole-body MR scanner
- Siemens Biograph mMR combined PET/MR scanner
Our researchers also have access to a Siemens Skyra 3T MR scanner and a Siemens Aera 1.5T MR scanner at NYU Langone Orthopedic Center.
Additional resources include an intraoperative MR scanner at Kimmel Pavilion, various MR, PET, and CT scanners at Perlmutter Cancer Center, and many other outpatient and inpatient scanners throughout the NYU Langone network.
An ultra-low-field Hyperfine Swoop 0.064T portable scanner is also at the disposal of our researchers.
MRI Scanner Test Bay
We operate a research-only scanner test bay at an outpatient imaging clinic at 310 East 22 Street. The test bay houses a prototype Siemens Aera 1.5T MR scanner ramped down to 0.55T. A dual-boot configuration enables low-level access to the scanner’s hardware components and allows us to investigate additions and modifications.
The prototype serves as a test bed for research and development of new sensors and software platforms for medical MR imaging systems.
Radiofrequency Engineering Laboratory
Our research headquarters houses a state-of-the-art RF engineering laboratory equipped with precision circuit routers, dielectric probes, network analyzers, three-dimensional (3D) printers, and other specialized equipment for design, prototyping, construction, diagnostics and repair of RF coils, anatomical housings, and biomorphic phantoms.
Our core RF staff use the laboratory to build a range of MRI detectors, including workhorse clinical coils, specialized multinuclear coils, and novel high impedance ultraflexible coils.
Phantom Laboratory
A dedicated phantom laboratory, located across the hall from the RF engineering laboratory, contains reagents and materials for the synthesis of substances that mimic tissue characteristics of interest.
Machine Shop
A machine shop, equipped with a lathe, a milling machine, a bench press drill, sawing machines, and other material-shaping hardware is located in the basement of our headquarters.
Combined with the RF laboratory, this resource allows us to build complete medical imaging device prototypes from scratch and to significantly modify existing devices for research purposes.
Cyclotron and Radiochemistry Laboratories
Our headquarters also house a cyclotron and two fully equipped state-of-the-art radiochemistry facilities for the production of PET radiotracers.
A radiochemistry suite includes a Siemens RDS Eclipse 11 MeV cyclotron and a production laboratory staffed by PETNET, our industry partner. PETNET staff maintain the cyclotron and produce radiopharmaceuticals for NYU Langone’s clinical operations.
Department of Radiology staff maintain a radiochemistry research laboratory with synthesizers and hot cells, a dedicated quality-control laboratory with analytical high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography systems, and a blood metabolite analysis laboratory with gamma counters, centrifuges, and additional HPLC analyzers. The facility supports production of 11C, 18F, 23Na, and 15O radioisotopes, synthesis and validation of radiotracers, and dispatch of doses to a human PET/MR system one floor below or to a micro-PET/CT system in the preclinical imaging laboratory nearby.
Artificial Intelligence and Supercomputing
To support leading-edge artificial intelligence (AI) studies, the Department of Radiology maintains a high-performance computing (HPC) cluster wholly dedicated to imaging research. The cluster, dubbed Skynet, is a 40-node HPC outfitted with IBM Power9 systems and NVIDIA Volta GPUs. Skynet encompasses a total of 160 GPUs, 6,400 CPU cores, and 99,840 tensor cores.
Our research staff also has access to shared NYU Langone High Performance Computing Core resources, including the BigPurple Compute Cluster with 90 compute nodes, a 100 GB Infiniband-2 EDR interconnect, and 14 PB of ESS parallel storage.
Preclinical Imaging Laboratory
The Department of Radiology operates a core preclinical imaging laboratory with support from CAI2R and Perlmutter Cancer Center.
The laboratory, located at 550 First Avenue, hosts two preclinical Brucker Biospec 7T micro-MRI systems and a Siemens Inveon micro-PET/CT scanner, along with instruments for high-frequency ultrasound biomicroscopy and bioluminescence and fluorescence optical imaging.
Microscopy Laboratory
Our researchers have access to a core microscopy laboratory located at 550 First Avenue.
The laboratory is equipped with a range of light microscopes and a lineup of specialized tools for electron microscopy. These include microtomes, cryo-ultramicrotomes, coaters, dryers, freezers, and other instruments for preparation of samples and for high-resolution imaging of specimens. These resources enable state-of-the-art validation of mesoscale structure of tissues.
