New radiation-free magnetic particle imaging scanner launched

The scanner is small and lightweight, so it can be carried around and used almost anywhere. Image credit: Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg

In a recent study, a team of German physicists and doctors successfully developed a portable scanner that can visualize dynamic processes in the human body, such as blood flow, with the help of a new radiation-free imaging technology - magnetic particle imaging. Scientists say this is an important step towards radiation-free intervention. The relevant research was published in the latest issue of the journal Scientific Reports.

Magnetic particle imaging is a technology based on the direct visualization of magnetic nanoparticles. Such nanoparticles are not naturally produced in the human body and must be administered as markers. Professor Volker Baer of the Institute of Physics at the Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg, who led the latest research, explained that like positron emission tomography, which relies on radioactive substances as markers, the magnetic particle imaging technology they developed has the advantage of being sensitive and fast, and does not "see" interfering background signals from tissue or bone.

The first author of the paper, physicist Patrick Vogel, explained that the magnetization intensity of the nanoparticles is specifically manipulated with the help of an external magnetic field, so that not only the presence of these nanoparticles can be detected, but also their spatial location in the human body can be detected.

In the latest study, Bell and his colleagues developed a new interventional magnetic particle imaging scanner that is small and light enough to be carried almost anywhere. They took measurements and captured the first images on a realistic model of human blood vessels.

The research team says this is a first important step towards radiation-free interventions that could revolutionize the field, and they are currently working on further enhancing the scanner to improve image quality.