Advanced Imaging Capacity for Research Studies
Access 3T MRI, 640-slice CT, digital PET/CT, and advanced ultrasound for research participants at Central Park Advanced Imaging in New York City.
We provide imaging services for universities, academic medical centers, research institutions, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, CROs, medical device companies, and investigator-led studies that need reliable access to advanced imaging equipment.
You provide the imaging protocol and study requirements. We provide the scanner, perform the imaging, and deliver the imaging data.
Independent scanner access
Outpatient capacity that isn't allocated against inpatient volume or clinical backlog. Participants scheduled inside your study windows.
Four modalities, one center
3T MRI, 640-slice CT, digital PET/CT, and advanced ultrasound at a single Manhattan address — no coordination across sites.
Quantitative outputs
Shear-wave stiffness, MR fat fraction, ASL perfusion, SUV, T1/T2 mapping, IMT and pulse-wave velocity, dual-energy decomposition.
Images delivered, nothing else
We acquire, quality-check, and transfer. We don't recruit, consent, screen, or manage participants — your study keeps full control.
Imaging access for research organizations
Universities
Academic medical centers
Pharmaceutical & biotech
Contract research organizations
Medical device companies
Investigator-led studies
Scanner access without the hospital bottleneck
Research studies run on schedules. Hospital imaging departments run on clinical demand, and research participants sit behind it.
CPAI is an independent outpatient imaging center. Our scanner time isn't allocated against inpatient volume, emergency cases, or clinical backlog, so we can schedule research participants inside defined study windows rather than whenever a slot opens up. We accommodate individual participants as well as studies requiring multiple participants and repeat imaging visits.
- 3T MRI
- 640-slice CT
- Digital PET/CT
- Advanced ultrasound
- Single- and multi-participant studies
- Baseline and follow-up imaging
- Repeat imaging visits
- Study-specified acquisitions
- Participant scheduling
- DICOM image delivery
- Secure image transfer
- Evening and weekend appointments
Advanced technology across four modalities
| Modality | System | Key specifications | Typical research applications |
|---|---|---|---|
| MRI | United Imaging uMR Omega 3T |
3T · 75 cm ultra-wide bore (widest 3T available) · 310 kg / ~683 lb table · up to 64-channel SuperFlex coils · uAI DeepRecon + uAI ACS · QuietScan | Neuro, MSK, spine, abdomen, pelvis, prostate, cardiac, soft tissue |
| CT | United Imaging uCT Atlas |
640-slice · 320 × 0.5 mm detector rows · 160 mm z-coverage · 0.25 s rotation · 82 cm bore · 318 kg / ~700 lb table · Deep IR reconstruction | Pulmonary, cardiovascular, oncology, skeletal, body |
| PET/CT | United Imaging uMI 550 Digital PET/CT |
LYSO 84-ring, 167 planes, 24 cm axial FOV · approx. 2.9 mm resolution · whole-body in as few as 8 min · integrated 80-slice diagnostic CT · HYPER iterative reconstruction · NEMA NU 2-2012 | Oncology, neurology, cardiology, metabolic and molecular imaging |
| Ultrasound | Samsung RS85 | S-Vue transducers · S-Vision engine · S-Shearwave elastography with quantitative kPa / m/s output · MV-Flow · CEUS+ · S-Fusion · Arterial Analysis | Vascular, hepatology, MSK, abdominal, thyroid, breast, prostate |
3T MRI
High-field anatomical, soft-tissue, and quantitative imaging.
640-Slice CT
Digital PET/CT
Ultrasound
High-field MRI with quantitative capability
You supply the sequences, anatomical coverage, acquisition parameters, and study specifications. Our imaging team confirms technical compatibility with the installed system and schedules your participants.
Brain and neurological · spine · musculoskeletal · joints · soft tissue · abdomen · pelvis · prostate · cardiac · baseline and follow-up · longitudinal imaging
Ultra-wide bore
The widest bore of any 3T system available. A practical inclusion-criteria advantage: claustrophobic participants, larger participants, and participants requiring assisted positioning can often be imaged where a conventional 60–70 cm bore would exclude them or produce an aborted scan.
Table capacity
Suitable for bariatric, athletic, and general research populations without requiring an alternate site.
Quantitative imaging built in
Cardiac T1, T2, and T2* mapping; brain perfusion; ASL non-contrast perfusion; FACT fat-fraction mapping; velocity-encoded flow quantification; vessel analysis — on the scanner's own workstation, without third-party post-processing.
Liver, prostate, breast
Included on this system and uncommon on standard 3T installations.
AI-accelerated acquisition
Deep-learning reconstruction and compressed sensing shorten acquisition substantially in supported protocols. The research benefit is operational: better participant tolerance, fewer motion-degraded series, fewer incomplete acquisitions across a longitudinal cohort.
MR-conditional safety
Implant parameters are entered by the technologist and the scanner enforces safety limits automatically. Relevant to studies enrolling participants with cardiac devices or other implants.
SuperFlex coils
Flexible surface coils conform to body habitus, improving signal and comfort relative to rigid arrays.
Study-specified acquisition and delivery
We image to the acquisition specification established for the study and hold it constant across participants and repeat visits. Completed datasets are delivered in standard DICOM format.
Ultra-fast CT with dual-energy and low-dose protocols
Chest and pulmonary · lung nodule imaging · cardiovascular and coronary · abdomen · pelvis · skeletal · oncology · anatomical measurement · baseline, follow-up, and longitudinal imaging
AI-assisted dose reduction
Deep IR reconstruction and Organ-Based Auto ALARA deliver diagnostic quality at substantially reduced exposure. For longitudinal design this is the specification that matters most — cumulative dose is frequently the constraint on how many CT timepoints an IRB will approve.
Whole-organ single rotation
A 320 × 0.5 mm detector array captures an entire heart, brain, or liver in one rotation with no table movement — removing a source of variability in dynamic and perfusion protocols and eliminating cardiac motion artifact.
Reconstruction to your specification
We can produce reconstructions to the parameters your protocol specifies — kernel, algorithm, slice thickness, and interval. Studies harmonizing with prior data or coordinating across sites can supply their reconstruction requirements with the protocol.
Widest bore in its class
As with MRI, this expands the participant population you can image at a single site.
FDA-cleared low-dose lung screening
Supports pulmonary nodule and early-detection protocols.
Automated positioning and range
Auto-centering and AI scan-range selection reduce operator-to-operator variability across participants and repeat visits — a reproducibility benefit, not just a workflow one.
Cardiac tools
Optimal-phase selection and coronary extraction support coronary calcium scoring, CTA, and cardiac morphology endpoints.
Contrast administration
Contrast is administered by our CT technologist under nurse practitioner supervision. Prior contrast exposure and reaction history are screened on intake, and reaction medication is held on site. The scanner is linked to the contrast injector for timing accuracy in dynamic and perfusion studies.
Molecular imaging with quantitative SUV accuracy
Oncology · tumor metabolism · treatment response · neurology and neurodegenerative disease · cognitive research · cardiac perfusion and viability · metabolic imaging · inflammation-related imaging · radiotracer-based studies · baseline, follow-up, and longitudinal PET/CT
Iterative reconstruction with improved SUV accuracy
Proprietary AI-driven PET reconstruction combining iterative methods with noise-control modeling. Against standard OSEM it improves lesion detectability, SNR, and — most relevant here — SUV quantification accuracy. Where SUV is your endpoint, this is the specification to evaluate.
LYSO detector system
167 imaging planes, spatial resolution ≤3.5 mm at 1 cm, sensitivity ≥9 cps/kBq. High count recovery is maintained in larger participants.
Performance compliance
Compliant with NEMA NU 2-2012 PET performance standards, IEC 60601, ISO 10993 biocompatibility, and IEC 62304 / ISO 14971 software and risk management.
Whole-body acquisition
Four-bed whole-body acquisition. Shorter acquisition can be traded against injected dose depending on protocol requirements.
Integrated CT registration
Automatic integration of the CT attenuation map into PET reconstruction, with precise registration to minimize mismatch artifact — important for reliable SUV mapping in cardiac and head-and-neck imaging.
Consistent scan range
AI landmark recognition generates an optimized scan range automatically, validated across 16 clinical groups, reducing operator variability in coverage between participants and across repeat visits.
Reader-study performance
Reader studies confirmed improved lesion contrast and SNR including in high-BMI imaging.
Beyond FDG
We routinely image FDG, F-18 amyloid and tau agents, Ga-68 PSMA and DOTATATE, and Cu-64 DOTATATE. Standard FDG workflow is injection, a 45–60 minute uptake period, then acquisition.
Radiotracers
We are not an FDG-only site. Our radioactive materials license permits the following isotopes on premises:
Fluorine-18 (F-18) · Gallium-68 (Ga-68) · Copper-64 (Cu-64)
Agents we image routinely include FDG, F-18 amyloid tracers, F-18 flortaucipir (Tauvid), Ga-68 PSMA, Ga-68 DOTATATE, and Cu-64 DOTATATE.
Quantity limits are available on request. The license defines what we can hold on site — confirm your specific radiopharmaceutical with us when you send your protocol, since regulatory pathway for the agent itself (IND, RDRC, or approved product) remains the study's responsibility.
Research doses accepted
Doses supplied by your study are accepted provided they fall within our RAM license limitations. Delivery is coordinated directly with your radiopharmacy or sponsor.
Ordering lead time
If we order doses on your behalf, the request must be placed by 2:00 PM the day before the scheduled scan. Build this into your participant scheduling.
Dose handling
Dose receipt, assay, and administration are performed by our nuclear medicine technologist as standard.
Your own staff
Studies that prefer their own qualified personnel to handle dose preparation or administration can arrange that with us in advance.
Outside staff — re-ask. The question was whether a study's own qualified personnel may handle dose prep and administration on site. The answer received ("Yes I can do dose prep/admin") confirms Ian does it, which is already covered. Get a clean yes/no on outside personnel, or delete the "Your own staff" card above.
HYPER reconstruction. Whether HYPER can be disabled or swapped for standard OSEM is pending confirmation with United Imaging. The AI Tools section currently qualifies PET separately — update it once you hear back.
Real-time and quantitative ultrasound
Abdominal · liver · pelvic · thyroid · breast · prostate · musculoskeletal · carotid · arterial · venous · Doppler · elastography · baseline and repeat imaging
S-Shearwave elastography
Non-invasive tissue and lesion stiffness producing a color-coded elastogram plus quantitative measurements, with user-selectable ROI and dual or single display. Validated for breast and liver. A measurable endpoint, not a qualitative impression — directly applicable to fibrosis and MASLD/NASH protocols.
Arterial Analysis and S-3D Arterial Analysis
Quantitative vascular measurement including intima-media thickness, arterial stiffness, and pulse-wave velocity of the common carotid, plus 3D plaque volume. IMT and PWV are established cardiovascular research endpoints.
Micro-vascular imaging
Visualizes slow flow in microvascularized structures at high frame rates — an alternative to color Doppler with better spatial and temporal resolution.
Contrast-enhanced ultrasound
Supports protocols using ultrasound contrast agents for vessel and perfusion assessment.
MR-ultrasound fusion
Real-time ultrasound fused with volumetric MR data, with auto-registration. The prostate configuration supports MR-targeted navigation.
Unconstrained repeat imaging
Practical for protocols requiring frequent repeat imaging with no cumulative dose constraint. Completed imaging is delivered through the agreed workflow.
Quantitative outputs, not just images
Most research protocols need a number, not a picture. Our installed systems produce quantitative measurements across all four modalities.
| Measurement | Modality | System capability |
|---|---|---|
| Tissue stiffness (kPa / m/s) | Ultrasound | S-Shearwave elastography, liver and breast |
| Proton-density fat fraction | MRI | FACT fat-fraction mapping |
| Perfusion, non-contrast | MRI | ASL, brain perfusion |
| SUV / metabolic quantification | PET/CT | HYPER reconstruction, integrated CT attenuation correction |
| Cardiac tissue characterization | MRI | T1, T2, T2* mapping |
| IMT, pulse-wave velocity, plaque volume | Ultrasound | Arterial Analysis, S-3D Arterial Analysis |
| Coronary calcium | CT | 640-slice cardiac protocols |
| Metabolite spectra | MRI | Liver, prostate, and breast MR spectroscopy |
| Blood-flow velocity | MRI | Velocity-encoded flow quantification |
If your protocol specifies a quantitative endpoint, include the measurement requirement and any required output format with your inquiry so we can confirm it before scheduling.
AI reconstruction can be configured to your protocol
Our MRI, CT, and ultrasound systems include AI-based reconstruction and analysis tools — uAI DeepRecon and uAI ACS on MRI, Deep IR and uAI Vision on CT, HYPER on PET, and S-Detect on ultrasound. For clinical imaging these are improvements. For research they are a variable, and we treat them that way.
Deep-learning reconstruction affects quantitative measurements. Studies harmonizing with prior data, coordinating across multiple sites, or feeding a downstream analysis pipeline may require conventional reconstruction, a specific kernel, or AI tools disabled entirely. Blinded reads may require AI classification output suppressed.
Reconstruction parameters and AI tool settings are configured to match your study specification and held constant across participants and repeat visits.
On CT we can produce reconstructions to any specified kernel or algorithm. For PET, confirm your reconstruction requirement with us when you send the protocol.
Confirm before publishing — specialty platforms
This entire section is conditional. Only publish named third-party platforms — Cleerly, HeartFlow, Cortechs.ai, Regenesis, InflammationIQ — once each is confirmed as actually available at CPAI. Publish the confirmed ones by name with a one-line description each.
If none are confirmed, delete this section. Do not publish a generic "specialized capabilities available on request" list — that is weaker than not raising the topic, and the quantitative imaging section already covers advanced capability with verified specifics.
Consistent imaging across participants and visits
- Same scanner and same modality for every participant and visit
- Consistent anatomical coverage and acquisition settings
- Consistent sequences and reconstruction approach
- Consistent participant positioning
- Fixed AI and reconstruction settings across the study
- Baseline and follow-up workflows
- Study-specific naming conventions
- DICOM preservation
Automated positioning and scan-range selection on our CT and PET/CT systems reduce operator-to-operator variability between participants, which supports consistency across a cohort and across a study timeline.
Imaging across research areas
Oncology
Anatomical imaging, lesion assessment, SUV-based metabolic imaging, treatment-response imaging, longitudinal follow-up.
Neurology & neurodegenerative disease
Structural brain imaging, ASL perfusion, MR spectroscopy, brain metabolism, seizure and dementia protocols.
Cardiovascular research
Coronary calcium scoring and CTA, single-heartbeat cardiac CT, cardiac T1/T2/T2* mapping, myocardial perfusion and viability PET, carotid IMT and pulse-wave velocity, plaque volume.
Hepatology & metabolic disease
Shear-wave elastography with quantitative stiffness, MR fat-fraction mapping, liver MR spectroscopy. Applicable to fibrosis, MASLD/NASH, and metabolic protocols.
Musculoskeletal research
Joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, spine, skeletal structures, soft tissue.
Pulmonary research
Lung anatomy, nodule assessment, low-dose screening protocols, structural change, longitudinal assessment.
Inflammation research
Molecular and anatomical imaging of inflammatory processes.
Women's health research
Breast MRI and ultrasound, breast MR spectroscopy, pelvic and reproductive imaging.
Prostate research
Prostate MRI, prostate MR spectroscopy, MR-ultrasound fusion.
Receive the imaging data your study requires
DICOM export
Secure transfer
Study-specific naming
Longitudinal organization
Radiologist interpretation
Delivery turnaround
Confirm before publishing — data delivery turnaround
Insert your actual standard DICOM delivery turnaround, stated separately from report turnaround. Suggested wording:Â "Research imaging data is typically delivered within [X] business days of the examination."
This is the highest-value item on the confirmation list. Hospital cores are frequently slow returning research data, and a concrete number here is a competitive claim.
A simple process
Send your requirements
Modality, examination type, acquisition protocol, coverage, participant volume, visits per participant, study dates, quantitative endpoints, contrast and radiotracer requirements, data-delivery requirements.
We confirm capability
Our imaging team confirms the requested imaging can be performed on our systems and identifies available scanner capacity.
Schedule participants
Participants are scheduled according to available appointment times and your required study windows.
We perform the imaging
Our technologists image to the established acquisition specification.
Receive your data
Completed image data is delivered through the agreed secure workflow.
Credentials and research pricing
Central Park Advanced Imaging is ACR accredited in CT.
Confirm before publishing — ACR scope
CT: accredited — published above. PET: in progress — do not publish until granted; an in-progress accreditation stated as fact is the kind of thing an institution's compliance office will check. MRI and ultrasound: still pending answers from those techs. Add each modality to the sentence above only as it is confirmed granted.
Research pricing
Confirm before publishing — institutional billing
If accurate, publish: "Institutional invoicing and purchase-order billing are available for approved research accounts. Research imaging is billed directly to the institution or sponsor — not to insurance."
For grant-funded academic studies this is often as decisive as any technical specification. Confirm whether you support POs, institutional invoicing, subawards, and a standing research rate schedule.
Confirm before publishing — named research client
With written permission, publish a short section here: "Research imaging services provided for [Client Name]." A client logo or two-sentence approved quote is worth more than any additional marketing copy on this page — it is the only thing that proves someone has already done this with you.
If permission is not granted, delete this section. Do not substitute unnamed claims such as "trusted by leading research organizations."
Frequently Asked Questions
No. CPAI provides imaging services. You provide the study protocol, scientific requirements, and imaging parameters. Our role is to confirm the requested imaging can be performed on our equipment, schedule participants, perform the imaging, and deliver the data.
Yes. Send the imaging protocol or acquisition requirements with your inquiry. We review the technical requirements before scheduling to confirm compatibility with our systems.
Yes. Reconstruction parameters and AI tool settings are configured to your study specification and held constant across participants and visits.
Scheduling depends on modality, examination requirements, study volume, and requested windows. We offer flexible outpatient availability including evenings and weekends. Send your expected volume and timeline for current availability.
Yes. We schedule baseline and follow-up examinations for studies requiring participants to return at defined intervals.
Yes. Completed datasets are delivered in standard DICOM format through the agreed secure workflow.
Yes. Our radioactive materials license permits F-18, Ga-68, and Cu-64 on site. Agents we image routinely include FDG, F-18 amyloid and tau tracers, Ga-68 PSMA, Ga-68 DOTATATE, and Cu-64 DOTATATE. Quantity limits are available on request. Send your radiopharmaceutical with your protocol and we will confirm it against our license before scheduling.
Yes, provided the dose falls within our RAM license limitations. Delivery is coordinated directly with your radiopharmacy or sponsor. If we order on your behalf instead, the request must be placed by 2:00 PM the day before the scan.
Our nuclear medicine technologist as standard. Studies that prefer their own qualified personnel to handle dose preparation or administration can arrange that with us in advance.
Confirm before publishing — contrast, 2 gaps
CT contrast is confirmed: technologist administers, NP supervises, reaction history screened on intake, reaction medication on site. Two things weren't covered — whether renal function / eGFR screening is required and at what threshold, and whether the study or CPAI supplies the agent. Also still need the MRI (gadolinium) answer from the MRI tech.
Access to Manhattan's research community
Central Park Advanced Imaging
110 E 60th Street, Lower Level
New York, NY
Located at 60th Street and Park Avenue. For studies requiring participants to return for multiple visits, travel distance affects completion rates. A central location reduces that friction.
3T MRI · 640-SLICE CT · DIGITAL PET/CT · ULTRASOUND WEEKDAY · EVENING · WEEKEND SCHEDULING
A short walk or ride from
Weill Cornell Medicine
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
The Rockefeller University
Hospital for Special Surgery
Lenox Hill Hospital
Confirm before publishing — transit and parking
Add nearest subway lines and stations, walking distance, nearby parking, and accessibility information. Relevant to any study coordinating participant travel.