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Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
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Policies and Procedures

Ohio University MicroCT Facility

OUµCT Policies and Procedures

A. OUµCT Panel. Oversight of the scanner is provided by a Panel consisting of representatives of relevant Ohio University constituencies.

  1. Membership. Current Panel members are Kelly McCall, Jundong Liu (representing RCENT), Darlene Berryman (representing CHSP & DI), and Larry Witmer and Ryan Ridgely (representing HCOM, CAS, and other OU units).
  2. Leadership. Witmer is current head the Panel because of his and Ridgely’s experience with diverse CT scanning applications.
  3. Panel members are issued a cardkey for EBI. Panel members may loan the cardkey only to approved operators (see §B below) needing to scan outside of normal EBI business hours (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday – Friday).
  4. Panel members review applications to use the OUµCT (see §C below).

B. Approved Operators. Use of the OUµCT is limited to individuals designated as “approved operators.” The intent of this restriction is to reduce the risk of damage to the scanner and/or computer by inadequately trained individuals.

  1. Approved operators include the Panel members. Other OU users will either need to work through these approved operators or become approved operators themselves. If only a single or small number of scan sessions are needed, then it may be prudent for a user to work through existing operators. If µCT will need to be a routine research tool, then it may be prudent for the user (or a designated lab member) to become an approved operator.
  2. The process of becoming an approved operator will involve (1) application to the OUµCT Panel (an email to witmerL@ohio.edu ) providing justification and (2) training with an existing operator. That existing operator will then certify to the Panel (by providing assurance via email) that the trainee is sufficiently capable to operate the scanner without supervision.
  3. Approved operators seeking to use the scanner outside of normal EBI business hours will need to obtain a cardkey from one of the members of the OUµCT Panel. For security reasons, operators should plan to use the scanner during normal business hours if at all possible.
  4. Approved operators will be provided with a user account and password for the computer that drives the scanner.

C. Application to use the OUµCT. Use of the OUµCT is limited to Ohio University researchers.

  1. Potential users, including approved operators and panel members, will need to apply by downloading the OUµCT Application Form, filling it out, and then submitting it via email to the Director ( witmerL@ohio.edu ). The OUµCT Application Form requests that potential users provide the following information:
    • Name of the lead researcher (faculty); if different, the name of the individual that will be attending the scan session
    • Scan project title.
    • Name of approved operator, if known. Also, if a user wants to become an approved operator, provide justification.
    • Funding source for project. Although funding is not required to use the scanner (see §C.3 below), funding information may be used for prioritizing scanning should scheduling conflicts arise. Also, when reporting to funding agencies or the OU VP for Research, it will be useful to be able to report how many funded projects are being served by the OUµCT.
    • Scanning objective. The reason for scanning may be one or more of the following: (a) proof of concept (i.e., determining if µCT is an appropriate research tool), (b) pilot data collection, (c) routine data collection, (d) collection of imagery to be used in presentations and/or proposals.
    • Number of scan sessions anticipated. Exact numbers are not necessary. Examples would be one, a few, many. If many sessions are anticipated, what is the time course? Also, if many sessions are anticipated, it will be necessary for the lead researcher to be trained or to designate someone to be trained as an approved operator.
    • Number of specimens/samples to be scanned.
    • Analytical objective. What is the scientific or analytical objective? Examples include qualitative morphology, bone mineral density measurement, volume or area measurement (e.g., of fat bodies or tumors), trabecular analysis.
    • Scan protocol, if known. General scan parameters (such as slice thickness, number of slices, scan energy, etc.) are helpful. Scan protocols may be available in published papers or from colleagues. It is the user’s responsibility to research how (or even whether) µCT has been used in their field. The Panel will expect users to have done some legwork. If PDFs or hardcopies of papers with protocols are available, please send those along.
    • Post-scanning objective. CT scanning yields slices. Does the user know how to use the slice data to achieve their analytical objective (§C.h above) or will they need help? It is not the responsibility of Panel members to do the analyses for users, but it may be possible to help users get started.
  2. Following submission of the application, the Panel head will forward the request to other Panel members for comment. There may be subsequent questions from the Panel to the user.
  3. Costs. At the present time, use of the scanner does not require direct funding from users. However, any expendable supplies will have to be supplied by users. Users (or their OU unites, e.g., department, college, institute) will be expected to contribute toward the purchase of a servce contract and any required repair expenses.

D. Scheduling scan time. Once a scan project is approved, the user needs only to schedule scan time. That is, the user does not need to submit the above application each time he or she wants to scan. To schedule, send an email to Ridgely ( ridgely@ohio.edu ). For each scheduling request, please provide (1) the responsible faculty member, (2) the name of the individual that will be attending the scan session, (3) the scan project title (see §C.b above), (4) the name of the approved operator, and (5) an estimate of the amount of scan time needed.

E. Logging activity. Users are required to fill out the electronic log (an Excel file that resides on the computer desktop). The purpose of the log is twofold: (1) to provide usage information to report to funding agencies, OU VP for Research, EBI Director’s Office, etc., and (2) to allow return users to review scan information (dates, protocol details, etc.)

F. Onsite data analysis. The computer attached to the scanner can also be used for data analysis and visualization. However, it is not ideal to do so, in that users seeking to scan cannot use the system while another user is analyzing data. The data analysis program installed on the computer is MicroView and is a free download ( http://microview.sourceforge.net/ ). MicroView (or any of the other CT visualization/ analysis) programs ideally should be installed and used on workstations in the user’s lab so as not to tie-up the scan system. Nevertheless, the computer is potentially available for analysis. See §H regarding computer login for non-approved operators.

G. Data archival. It is the user’s responsibility to remove and archive their own data. CT and the analysis of CT data can produce huge data files, often measured in gigabytes. The computer’s hard drive is not large enough to store the data of all users. Periodically, Witmer & Ridgely will purge data from the hard drive to ensure that future users have space. It is recommended that users use portable, investigator-owned hard drives for data storage.

H. Computer use. The computer attached to the scanner requires a user login, and only approved operators will be supplied with an account. If non-approved operators need to use the computer (e.g., for data analysis), a separate account will be provided by the Panel. The computer is not to be used for any purposes other than scanning and the subsequent analysis of scan data. Users are not allowed to load any software on the computer without prior permission of the Panel; in fact, installation requires administration privileges that only Panel members have.

I. Problems with the scanner or computer. If users and operators have problems with the scanner or the computer, these should be reported immediately to Witmer or Ridgely, and the ‘OUT OF ORDER’ sign placed on the equipment. Witmer and Ridgely will seek resolution with GE. If a visit from a service representative is required, Witmer or Ridgely will alert Lori Abdella, EBI Administrative Associate, via email ( abdellaL@ohio.edu ) of the date and time of the service call. When the scanner is operational again, either the service representative or the panel member working with the service representative will notify Abdella.

J. Note on the use of animal subjects and IACUC. It is the responsibility of all OUµCT users employing vertebrate animals to ensure that they are in full compliance with the policies of Ohio University's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).