Yttrium-Iron Garnet Film Magnetometer for Registration of Magnetic Nano- and Submicron Particles: In Vitro and In Vivo Studies.

Abstract

In the current article, we present a new kind of magnetometer for quantitative detection of magnetic objects (magnetic nano- and submicron particles) in biological fluids and tissues. The sensor is based on yttrium-iron garnet film with optical signal registration system. Inheriting the working principle of a fluxgate magnetometers, the sensor works at a room-temperature, its wide dynamic range allows the measurements in an unshielded environment. A small size of sensitive element combined with a short recovery time after the excitation coils are off provide us with a potentially high spatial and temporal resolution of measurements. We show the feasibility of the developed devices by sensing the remanent magnetization of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) both in vitro (test tubes, dry MNPs) and in vivo (local injection of the MNPs into mice).