Hi,

(apologies for cross posting on ynic-users and psych lists)

We'd like to update you on the current University guidelines on research scanning, the restrictions we have, and what we have put in place to keep everyone as COVID-safe as possible. Lauren Welbourne has put together the following summary for all of us:

Under current Government, University, and Departmental guidelines, we are able to resume MRI research scanning at YNiC under our new COVID procedure.  However, during the current National lockdown we are only permitted to scan participants that are either University staff or students - you cannot scan anyone who is not part of the University.

Due to a number of staff organizational changes at YNiC (and the challenges we are all facing at the moment) we are limited in the amount of operator scanning hours we can provide to users. Therefore, we are investing a large proportion of our timetabled scanning hours into helping research groups complete (or renew) their operator training, to enable groups to scan at more flexible hours without the need for YNiC operators.  The benefits of this are not only that research groups will have the flexibility to scan outside of operator-covered scanning slots, but this also protects ongoing research at YNiC - should any member of staff be required to isolate (which may cease all operator-covered scanning temporarily) research groups that are already operator trained will be able to continue scanning safely.

We have put together a detailed and thorough COVID protocol, and all researchers that wish to resume scanning will be required to undergo training on this protocol.  This also covers what information you must communicate with your participant - we have produced a document which the participant must sign in order to take part in a YNiC research scan, which ensures that the participant understands their responsibilities, and also reassures them of what our responsibilities are to them and the procedures we have put in place.  Our goal is to resume research scanning whilst keeping our staff, researchers, and participants as safe as possible.

Until we are satisfied with the timings and requirements of each research group, operator-covered slots will last two hours, which includes the time required for cleaning between each participant - only one participant will be permitted in the centre at any time. These scanning slots will be identifiable on the PTS booking system as operator-covered slots that last 1hour 45minutes.

At present, on Tuesdays and Thursdays YNiC will provide 2 operators for each scanning slot (i.e. the researcher does not need to have any operator training), whereas on Wednesdays and Fridays only 1 YNiC operator will be provided - these slots are intended for researchers that intend on renewing their operator training, or who have one qualified operator and so require YNiC to provide the second operator for the scanning session.

Following feedback from research groups that are ready to resume scanning, the operator-cover we provide will only be for the Siemens scanner.  However, we will regularly review the scanning allocations, and adjust as necessary, including introducing scanning/training hours on the MEG and GE scanners when possible.

I appreciate that this is a large amount of information to digest, but we encourage anyone who is hoping to resume/begin scanning to get in touch with us at support@ynic.york.ac.uk where we can assist you further and get you ready to scan.

Lastly, we are planning to have a period of training in December (out of term) so that labs can get themselves equipped to run more independently and flexibly when (hopefully) services resume in the new year. Details will follow in a separate email.

Best wishes,