The Advanced MRI and Neuromodulation (AMRI) Core Facility will provide the Waterloo research community with state-of-the-art, research-grade human imaging capabilities. Using an ultra-high gradient 3 Tesla full body MRI scanner, the AMRI facility will enable high resolution functional, structural and metabolic measurements of the juvenile and adult brain.
The AMRI Core Facility at Waterloo will be located in the new Waterloo Eye Institute (WEI, $27 million raised) space and adjacent to the Canadian Vision Imaging Centre (CVIC, $6.2 million CFI and ORF investment) to enable seamless patient recruitment and clinical assessment before imaging. The WEI and CVIC provide a foundation for globally unique research focused on eye-brain interactions that will enable enhanced treatments for vision loss and a range of other brain-based disorders.
Vision
AMRI will leverage Waterloo’s vast potential for world-leading human imaging research, catalyzing the institution’s strengths in vision health, brain health, aging research, bone and muscle health, data analysis, image processing, biomedical engineering, psychology, quantum technologies, artificial intelligence and commercialization. This facility will ignite Waterloo’s potential to drive the imaging field and accelerate research activity under the Health Global Future.
This facility will initially enable research programs under three main themes:
Theme 1: Sensory neuroscience
Theme 2: Health across the lifespan
Theme 3: Advanced health technologies
List of equipment
Proposed
- Ultra-high gradient 3 Tesla full body MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner (Siemens MAGNETOM Cima.X) equipped with stimulus presentation and response systems
- MRI-compatible TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation)
People
Scientific Director
Dr. Ben Thompson
School of Optometry & Vision Science
ben.thompson@uwaterloo.ca
Co-Director
Dr. Peter A. Hall
School of Public Health Sciences
pahall@uwaterloo.ca
How to request access
Contact the scientific director, Ben Thompson at ben.thompson@uwaterloo.ca.