Imaging Facility Guidelines

Access to Imaging and Training

  • Fill out the Bioimaging Training Information Form and submit to the Bioimaging Specialist.
  • Fill out the Pre-clinical Imaging Training Information Form and submit to the Pre-clinical Imaging Specialist.
  • Discuss project and imaging needs with Bioimaging specialist. During this time a date will be set for training. NOTE: Typical wait times for a training session are 5-10 days.
  • Obtain training on equipment. Includes both theory and practical instruction.
  • All new users must attend a separate training session for each type of equipment.
  • Users are encouraged to bring their own samples to the training to ensure optimization of settings. All training will be done by specialists.
  • Users must demonstrate a thorough familiarity with the equipment and associated software prior to unassisted use.

Scheduling

Online scheduling is available only to those individuals who have received training on equipment. Tardiness of more than 20 minutes will result in forfeiture of reserved time and anyone can claim this period. If you have booked a microscope system and no longer need to use it, you are expected to cancel your bookings 30 minutes prior to the start time. Failure to do so may result in charges for the full amount of time that was booked and missed.

Billing – FOR NON SMH RESEARCHERS ONLY

In order to offset operational expenses, a fee for service model has been implemented (see Fee schedule). Every month, a detailed confirmation of the charges incurred will be sent to each researcher. Do not share your profile with anyone and always logout at the end of your session, otherwise your supervisor will be billed for time you did not use.

Safety

Any samples (cells, tissues, animals etc.) brought into the imaging facilities should follow all biosafety and vivarium safety protocols. Gloves from your lab should not be brought into imaging facilities although you may put on clean ones. All surfaces in contact with animals should be cleaned and dried.

Data Storage

The acquisition computers are equipped with designated data drives where you may temporarily store your images (up to 5GB). These data drives are not private. It is the users’ responsibility to copy data to their own storage devices, and to remove data from the acquisition computer.

There is also an imaging facility Network Attached Storage that can be used for transfer of data from acquisition systems to analysis systems. Please contact specialist for access.

The Imaging facility is not responsible for any lost or unsaved data.

Please report any hardware or software problems or any misuse of equipment to the specialist promptly so that steps can be taken to fix any issues.

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