Long-term stable measurement phantoms for magnetic particle imaging

Autor: Christoph Alexiou, Frank Wiekhorst, Silvio Dutz, Cordula Grüttner, Stefan Lyer, James Wells, Lucas Wöckel, Olaf Kosch
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials. 471:1-7
ISSN: 0304-8853
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmmm.2018.09.012
Popis: Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is a tomographic imaging method to determine the spatial distribution of magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) within a defined volume. To evaluate the imaging capabilities of existing MPI scanners, their sensitivity and image resolution limits have to be analyzed. Therefore, precisely defined structures (phantoms) with various tracer concentrations are required to enable comparative studies between existing MPI systems. To support the development of capable MPI phantoms, we developed a method to incorporate different commercially available MNP into a long-term stable synthetic polymer with an iron concentration of up to 200 mmol/l. The properties of each type of polymer matrix embedded MNP were tested by magnetic particle spectroscopy (MPS). For shaping the particle loaded polymer to a phantom, we used 3-D printed molds with a structure cross section of 2 × 2 mm2. The particle loads within the phantoms were then imaged using MPI. The particle-loaded polymer is very suitable for preparation of measurement phantoms that could be visualized by MPI. Repeated shore hardness and MPS measurements up to one year did not reveal any changes in the mechanical and magnetic properties of the used material. In conclusion, we developed long-term stable measurement phantoms for magnetic particle imaging. Further work will focus on more detailed particle loaded structures in phantoms and water based polymers with a more homogeneous particle distribution.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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