SOP - Introduction

Purpose

This page is part of the full Standard Operating Procedures for the Imaging Research Center.

Introduction

The Imaging Research Center (IRC) at The University of Texas at Austin (UT) is an organized research unit that reports to the Deans of Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences at UT.  Operations of the IRC are to be in compliance with all relevant policies and procedures of UT and all relevant state and federal laws and regulations. Safety procedures are registered with the Dean of Natural Sciences.

This document serves as a supplement to established UT safety regulations and policies, and is concerned only with safe operating policies unique to the IRC, principally due to its specialized facilities for studies using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods. 

Magnetic resonance (MR) systems in the IRC shall be operated in adherence to existing guidance for research activities for magnetic resonance imaging devices.  These procedures were also guided by the recommendations of the “American College of Radiology White Paper on MR Safety,” combined papers of 2007, the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), and other similar organizations and entities.  All investigators using MR systems in the IRC are responsible for ensuring that their use of these systems will be in strict adherence to these policies and procedures.  Any categories not included in this document (e.g. the treatment of biohazards, laboratory safety for chemicals, etc.) are referenced to the relevant guidelines and policies governing other research facilities at UT.  In the event of a conflict between this document and these guidelines/policies, the more restrictive guidelines and policies take precedence.

The IRC is a research facility, as opposed to a clinical facility as described in the American College of Radiology White Paper, and so our screening procedures are developed according to the best standards for human subjects enrolling in a research study.  The MR examinations performed as part of research are not ordered by a physician (e.g. primary care physician or surgeon), and so the risk-benefit evaluation is quite different than it is in a clinical setting. Our goal is to virtually eliminate substantial risk for research participants in our studies.

Organization of the IRC with respect to these Standard Operating Procedures is discussed in this document. At present, there is a Director and an Executive Committee that is advisory to the Director.  The Operations Administrator reports safety issues to the Director.