Function BIRN Stability Phantom QA Procedures
Description:
THESE ARE THE ORIGINAL VERSIONS OF THE TOOLS. For the most updated versions, please see the BXE/XCEDE QA tools available at http://www.nbirn.net/tools/bxh_tools/index.shtm.
The Quality Assurance scans are performed on a routine basis. They are used to verify and measure the scanner stability during a typical fMRI scanning sequence. The scans are performed on a 17cm spherical phantom filled with an agar gel. The scans consist of 200 separate image volumes captured over roughly a 10 minute interval. Post acquisition analyses consist of mean and standard deviation measurements, drift and percent fluctuation in signal, signal-to-noise (SNR), and signal-to-fluctuation-noise (SFNR) ratios calculated over all volumes.
Figure: Images of QA agar gel phantom time series maps.
(A) mean, (B) standard deviation, (C) noise average, (D) SFNR.
Figure: Results from the QA analysis
Download Information — The distribution includes:
- fBIRN_phantom_qaProcedures.doc: includes instructions, the recipe, and analysis methods for building and using an agar phantom, and acquiring and using a spatial phantom.
- Fbirn-qa-calc-birn.m: is the Matlab procedure for analyzing the results. Instructions are included in the header of the file.
- MCW_fBIRN_QA-AFNI.doc: includes information regarding MCWs version of the FBIRN QA analyses, implemented in AFNI. See MCW_fBIRN_Phantom_QA.tgz for the programs.
Tutorial: Related tutorials can be found on the Function BIRN Tutorial Site.