A hybrid transducer to magnetically and ultrasonically evaluate magnetic fluids

Ultrasound, magnetic fields, and optical techniques have been explored for clinical diagnosis and therapy. However, these techniques have limitations. In this study, we constructed and characterized a transducer to magnetically and ultrasonically investigate samples labeled with magnetic particles. The transducer is a hybrid system consisting of an ac biosusceptometer (ACB) and an ultrasonic transducer. The basic operation principle consisted of measuring the magnetization and microvibrations of ferromagnetic particles (37 and 70 μm) mixed in yogurt and excited by an external alternating magnetic field generated by the ACB´s excitation coils. The vibration of the ferromagnetic particles was measured in phantoms using a Doppler ultrasonic transducer; we verified the sensitivity to detecting the vibrations at low concentrations of ferromagnetic material (~1%). The responses of the susceptometer and Doppler ultrasound linearly depended on the voltage level applied to the magnetizing coils at low ferromagnetic particle concentrations (≤ 5%). We also conducted a repeatability test on the prototype, which indicated a deviation of 0.94% and 0.25% in the Doppler and susceptometric measurements, respectively. We can conclude that the hybrid transducer technique has potential clinical applications.