Magnetic particle imaging with multichannel coil arrays

Abstract

Magnetic particle imaging was introduced to an noninvasive method for 3-dimensional imaging tool for tracing the distribution of magnetic particle in vivo. However the proposed method should not only applying a high strength AC magnetic field to induce the third harmonic magnetic signal form the nonlinear magnetized magnetic nanoparticles but also applying three strong gradient fields and three strong magnetic fields to construct a small field-free point (FFP) and scan the FFP for imaging. The strength of gradient field should be several T/m for a high spatial resolution about several mm. It limits the imaging size and the cost of high power supplies for strong scanning magnetic fields is expensive. Here, we propose a new magnetic particle imaging method by using pickup coil array and a strong ac exciting field instead of the gradient fields and scanning field. This method reaches the real time imaging and low cost and promise for the industrialization in the new future.