MR Safety Training

MR safety Training is offered under normal conditions on monthly basis and it is held at the Conference room (Mattarello, Maso, Basement) usually from 14:30 to 17:30 by the MR Safety Expert.

Every person who needs to work in the MR Lab for a research project must preventively successfully complete a safety training course. Participants of the course must be co-investigators of a project that is being reviewed for approval or that has already been fully approved for use of the MR Lab. The Principal Investigator must indicate in the Research Project Proposal the specific researchers / assistants who will require training and which access level they need (see below for access level description). After this, the person who needs the training can proceed to schedule the training.

The training is valid for one year. After one year, if the research project is ongoing and the researcher / assistant still needs to enter the MR Lab, he/she needs to attend a specific re-training session

The Schedule of the course for those who are attending it for the first time is as follows:

After the successful completion of the written exam and the final approval of the project proposal, the researcher / assistant that completed the MR Safety course will receive a color-coded badge that is required for access to the lab.

There are three access levels to the MR Lab, each identified by a color code (see below). The current MR Safety course covers training for all levels.

In all cases, researchers / assistants must always be supported by the Staff when inside the MR area.

Personnel categories	Work in MR lab	Access to magnet room	Operate magnet computer	Responsible for safety procedures	Periodic medical exam
Level 1	Yes	No	No	No	LNIF screen
Level 2	Yes	Yes	No	No	UniTN screen
Level Staff	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	UniTN screen

More information about access permissions
- Before to start scanning subjects for a new project, the researcher responsible for the experiments is requested to conduct a phantom session in the MR lab to verify that the experimental set-up is free of bugs (e.g. stimuli are presented correctly, responses are being recorded, and synchronisation with the scanner is being achieved).

During the scanning activity, at least one researcher / assistant involved in the project is required to attend the experiments, in order to guide and help their participants through the experiment (e.g. obtaining consent, explaining the task and conducting training, answering any questions). The existing hardware and software set-up provides for presentation of auditory and visual stimuli, receiving manual and voice responses, and recording of physiological data; therefore, direct access to the magnet room by researchers is generally not needed.

In sporadic occasions projects approved requires researchers to enter the magnet room (e.g. to set up specialized equipment, or to accompany participants with a disability). For such purposes, Level 2 access is needed. This involves a periodic medical examination. Consult with your LNIF contact if you think you will need Level 2 access.

Involved researchers who will only observe experiments occasionally, without interacting with the subjects, can be accommodated as guests, and do not need to gain an access status, but can never be left alone by the researcher responsible for the project that is being conducted.

For more information see:
\\cimec-storage5\cimec-labs\mri-lab\gestione-safety

or contact:

nicola.pace at unitn.it

Back to: EthicalCommitteeApplications