A novel scanner architecture for MPI

The work described here demonstrates a novel approach to MPI scanner design, in which the usual drive fields are decoupled into distinct field-free point (FFP) manipulation and superparamagnetic nanoparticles (SPN) excitation fields that are applied at very different characteristic frequencies. The additional degrees of freedom offered by this strategy may provide new avenues of opportunity for image quality enhancement and device-size scaling while respecting Health Safety considerations. Studies intended to further characterize the performance of our prototype imager are ongoing, and will be reported elsewhere.