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Questions & Answers
Most Asked
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The EchoMRI™ systems are exceedingly easy to operate and maintain.
A one hour training is sufficient for individuals without prior knowledge.
Scan results are shown on the monitor and can be optionally extracted to plain ASCII, Excel, and Access files.
The device is a stand-alone unit, it uses standard power sources, and it is completely safe to run.
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NMR instruments for composition analysis create contrast between soft tissues by taking advantage of the differences
in relaxation times of the hydrogen proton spins in different environments.
Radio pulses cause proton spins to precess and emit radio signals which are then received and analysed.
The amplitude, duration, and spatial distribution of these signals are related to properties
of the material scanned.
The high contrast between fat, lean, and free water is further enhanced by application
of specially composed radio pulse sequences.
Enquire about methods of measurements.
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Our installation and training package includes a complete 1 year warranty, covering parts, labor, travel expenses,
and applicable software upgrades.
In addition, we try to visit a customer once or twice during the warranty period for a checkup.
Extended warranties are also available.
Enquire about warranty options.
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For small animals, organs and samples, our currently standard mass limits per holder are
0.3g for small tissue samples (EchoMRI-4in1™, EchoMRI-3in1™),
10g and 25g for organs, tissue samples, and very small animals (EchoMRI-Combo™/Compound, EchoMRI-4in1™, EchoMRI-3in1™),
100g, 130g, and 200g for mice-size animals (EchoMRI-Combo™, EchoMRI-4in1™, EchoMRI-3in1™, EchoMRI-Mice™ EchoMRI-Birds™),
300g, 500g, 700g, 900g, and 1100g for rat-size animals (EchoMRI-Combo™, EchoMRI-4in1™).
For humans and larger animals, our current standard mass limits per cradle are
12kg for infants,
80kg for children,
250 kg for grown humans.
Enquire about custom-built sizes and specifications.
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No anesthesia or restraints are needed
The fact that the animals can be scanned alive, awake, and unrestrained makes the measurements much more comfortable
for both the animals and their handlers.
An important benefit from this is that animals can be scanned as frequently as needed without undue stress or other
effects on their health and well-being.
Short scan duration
In most typical cases, the scan can be completed in less than a minute if water is not included or a minute and
a half if water is measured too.
Unsurpassed precision
The repeatability of measurement results is superior to any alternative methods that have been compared with EchoMRI™ so far.
Adaptability
Besides customized hardware, there is also the option of customized calibration of measurements for various types of animals and substances
(see adaptability example).
Enquire about other types of animals or substances.
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EchoMRI™ Scan Procedure
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To be measured, an animal is placed in a specially sized, clear plastic holder without sedation or anesthesia.
The holder is then inserted into a tubular space in the side of the EchoMRI™ system.
The researcher then either presses a key on the keyboard or clicks a button on the LCD screen, and the scan starts.
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Animals are scanned without anesthesia, sedation, or restraint and so are free to move in the holders.
It is best to use holders of the smallest volume that can hold the animal, to restrict its movement
and so reduce the measurement errors caused by motion.
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Fat is the mass of all the fat molecules in the body expressed as equivalent weight of canola oil.
Lean is a muscle tissue mass equivalent of all the body parts containing water, excluding fat, bone minerals,
and such substances which do not contribute to the NMR signal, such as hair, claws, etc.
Contributions to Free Water come mostly from the bladder.
In experiments, for a limited time, water can be detected after it is injected into abdominal cavity of an animal, until it gets absorbed.
Total Water includes both the Free Water and the water contained in Lean, that is all the water in the body.
For normal animals, the hydration ratio (Total Water - Free Water) / Lean is typically within a few percent of 80%.
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All organs contribute to lean mass.
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The general formula is
(Weight) = (Lean) + (Fat) + (Free Water) + (Undetectable substances) + (Systematic Errors)
where the undetectable substances such as bone mineral content, claws, hair, etc do not contribute to the NMR signal detected by the system.
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Most of the Total Water is already included in Lean and so counted twice in the sum of Fat, Lean, and Total Water.
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From our experience with testing many animals and comparing NMR results with chemical analysis,
we found that typically the NMR signal from fat in mice and rats can be well represented by the NMR signal from the same
amount of canola oil.
Using other fat for test sample would require customized software modifications.
Enquire about customized software modifications.
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Whatever is entered or not in the Weight column, or in any column a user can access, plays no role in the measurements.
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The methodology is exactly the same for all our systems, regardless of subject size.
The hardware needs to be different for different sizes, including the optimal choice of magnetic field strength and of the nature
of the magnets, permanent or electric.
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EchoMRI™ Systems' Configurations
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EchoMRI™ device
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Part
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Dimensions
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Combo, Mice
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24"W x 28"D x 58"H / 61cm x 71cm x 147cm
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4-in-1
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48"W x 28"D x 52"H / 121cm x 71cm x 132cm
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3-in-1
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24"W x 28"D x 52"H / 61cm x 71cm x 132cm
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Birds
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Computer Box
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30"W x 23"D x 30"H / 76cm x 59cm x 76cm
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Magnet Box
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24"W x 28"D x 33"H / 61cm x 71cm x 84cm
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AH, AH/Small
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Rack
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24"W x 28"D x 58"H / 61cm x 71cm x 147cm
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Magnet Box
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57"W x 144"D x 60"H / 145cm x 366cm x 152.5cm
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Infants
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24"W x 77"D x 80"H / 61cm x 196cm x 203cm
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EchoMRI™ systems for small animals power consumption is at most 500 W (1706 Btu/h).
EchoMRI™ systems for humans power consumption is at most 2200 W (7507 Btu/h).
One 110/220 VAC, 50/60 Hz outlet is required.
The device is compatible with international standards required in America, Europe and Asia.
EchoMRI™ systems for small animals have permanent magnets which generate no heat.
EchoMRI™ systems for humans have electromagnets which generate heat similar to that of a computer workstation.
The most heat generated by a component other than the magnet comes from the digital electronics,
about as much as generated by a common personal computer.
In a normal laboratory environment, no special air conditioning or environmental settings are required.
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No special shielding is required.
In systems for humans and animal systems with vertical gantry, the 5-gauss field is fully contained within the enclosure.
In small animal systems with horizontal gantry, 5-gauss field is contained within the enclosure
except for two hemispherical volumes of 9” radius at the opposite edges of the horizontal gantry.
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