Services

The UMass Chan RLASTIC Core offers the following services:

• Single Photon Computerized Tomography (SPECT)
• Positron Emission Computerized Tomography (PET)
• X-Ray Computerized Tomography (CT)
• NIR Optical Imaging of small animals

Fees for using our Nuclear Cameras

Charges for the nuclear cameras are $100/hour for UMass Chan faculty, $200/hour for all other academic, $450/hour for Industry. Included in these charges are operator and analysis time. Not included are costs for animals/housing, and radioactivity.

Investigators requiring additional time from Core staff; for example radiolabeling, animal injections, biodistributions by dissection, etc. are asked to discuss project and fees with Core staff.

Terms of Use/Conditions

All users of the RLASTIC Core Facility with live animals are required to obtain animal use approval from the UMass Chan IACUC. Users are also required to obtain UMass Chan Radiation Safety Committee approval unless the studies are to be performed by Core staff. On rare occasions, certain UMass Chan investigators with proper training will be allowed to operate the NanoSPECT/CT and PET camera especially in off hours. The Pearl and IVIS 100 optical cameras are user friendly and are generally operated by the user after brief training.

To help ensure the microbiological integrity of our research colonies, all investigators are prohibited from personally bringing animals from an external facility (e.g., academic institution, private research organization, or animal breeder) to UMass Chan for any purpose, including use of the RLASTIC Core Facility. Without exception, animals entering UMass Chan from outside institutions must satisfy Animal Medicine animal purchase and import requirements.

Outside organizations may be asked to purchase animals through the UMass Chan Department of Animal Medicine, using UMass Chan approved animal vendors, for delivery directly to the UMass Chan Department of Animal Medicine animal facility. Alternatively, animals entering UMass Chan may be subjected to quarantine prior to research use.