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Research Volunteers Are Needed! People who have suffered a spinal cord injury in the cervical region (i.e. the neck), at least one year ago, that has been confirmed by a doctor, are needed for on-going studies aimed at mapping how function in the spinal cord changes as a result of injury. People who have never suffered any form of spinal cord injury are also needed, so that the maps of function can be compared between people who have been injured, and people who have not. If interested please contact Dr Patrick Stroman by e-mail at stromanp@queensu.ca , or by phone at 613-533-3245, to be sent an information package. After you receive the package you can decide whether or not you want to volunteer. Participating in a research study involves one visit to the Queen's MRI Facility, and one visit to Providence Care, St. Mary's of the Lake Hospital for clinical assessments of your spinal cord function. The imaging studies take a maximum of 1 hour, and time is needed before and after to ensure that all of your questions have been answered and you have removed any loose metal objects, etc. We therefore tell people to plan to take about 2 hours of their time for imaging studies. During imaging you will lie on your back inside the MRI system, and small devices that change temperature in pre-set patterns in time will be taped to your hands and shoulders. These will warm up and then cool back down toward skin temperature from time to time. During imaging you will also be able to watch a movie that is projected onto a screen that you will view in a mirror. The movie is to help you to keep from being bored. The MRI scanning procedure is very much like other medical imaging used in hospitals, but you will not be exposed to x-rays. This MRI machine uses strong magnet and radio waves to make images of the interior of your body. You will not feel either. The MRI being used in this study is a 3 Tesla MRI that is twice that used for most clinical imaging, although 3 tesla systems are becoming more common in hospitals. The levels of magnetism and radio waves used in the MRI have not been shown to cause harmful effects. However, the MR scanner uses a very strong magnet that will attract metal. Therefore ALL metallic objects must be removed from your person before you approach the scanner. For this study the exception is implanted metal rods, plates, screws, etc, that are used to stablize the spine, and these are safe for MR imaging. If you have a cardiac pacemaker or a metallic clip in your body (e.g., an aneurysm clip in your brain or an I.U.D.) you should not participate in any MRI study. In addition, credit cards and other cards with magnetic strips should also be removed as these will be damaged. Due to the very high magnetic field you should not be a subject in any MRI experiment if you: (any of the following)
If you have any questions contact Dr Patrick Stroman by e-mail at stromanp@queensu.ca , or by phone at 613-533-3245. If you live in the Toronto area, studies are also being carried out at Toronto Western Hospital.
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