Development of Small Rabbit-scale Three-dimensional Magnetic Particle Imaging System with Amplitude Modulation Based Reconstruction

Abstract

Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) is an emerging non-invasive molecular imaging method that can image the concentration and position of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. Its applications in the biomedical field are increasing rapidly. However, the scalability of MPI is the major barrier in its clinical use at the moment. For a large bore size of MPI, it is important to achieve a high magnetic gradient for high image resolution with a large field-of-view (FOV), while allowing fast scanning and high sensitivity. In this paper, we present a rabbit-scale three-dimensional (3D) amplitude modulation (AM) MPI system with a larger bore size (90 mm) and a high magnetic gradient of up to 4 T/m/0. The AM MPI with a soft core can allow a large FOV and good resolution while minimizing the peripheral nerve stimulation constraint and hardware requirements. This new design guideline and optimum design parameters of 3D AM MPI for scalability were suggested and verified by simulation and experimental studies to allow fast scanning with high resolution and high sensitivity while avoiding vibration and heating issues. Compared to a commercial MPI system, the proposed 3D MPI system promises an increase of about 400% in spatial coverage volume with about 136% higher spatial resolution. IEEE