Determining the brain perfusion is an important task for diagnosis of vascular diseases such as occlusions and intracerebral haemorrhage. Even after successful diagnosis, there is a high risk of restenosis or rebleeding such that patients need intense attention in the days after treatment. Within this work, we present a diagnostic tomographic imager that allows access to brain perfusion quantitatively in short intervals. The device is based on the magnetic particle imaging technology and is designed for human scale. It is highly sensitive and allows the detection of an iron concentration of 263 pmol Fe ml −1 , which is one of the lowest iron concentrations imaged by MPI so far. The imager is self-shielded and can be used in unshielded environments such as intensive care units. In combination with the low technical requirements this opens up a variety of medical applications and would allow monitoring of stroke on intensive care units.

Magnetic particle imaging is a tomographic imaging technique capable of measuring the local concentration of magnetic nanoparticles that can be used as tracers in biomedical applications. Since MPI is still at a very early stage of development, there are only a few MPI systems worldwide that are primarily operated by technical research groups that develop the systems themselves. It is therefore difficult for researchers without direct access to an MPI system to obtain experimental MPI data. The purpose of the OpenMPIData initiative is to make experimental MPI data freely accessible via a web platform. Measurements are performed with multiple phantoms and different image sequences from 1D to 3D. The datasets are stored in the magnetic particle image data format (MDF), an open document standard for storing MPI data. The open data is mainly intended for mathematicians and algorithm developers working on new reconstruction algorithms. Each dataset is designed to pose a specific challenge to image reconstruction. In addition to the measurement data, computer aided design (CAD) drawings of the phantoms are also provided so that the exact dimensions of the particle concentrations are known. Thus, the phantoms can be reproduced by other research groups using additive manufacturing. These reproduced phantoms can be used to compare different MPI systems.

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Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) has been successfully used to visualize the distribution of superparamagnetic nanoparticles within 3D volumes with high sensitivity in real time. Since the magnetic field topology of MPI scanners is well suited for applying magnetic forces on particles and micron-sized ferromagnetic devices, MPI has been recently used to navigate micron-sized particles and micron-sized swimmers. In this work, we analyze the magnetophoretic mobility and the imaging performance of two different particle types for Magnetic Particle Imaging/Navigation (MPIN). MPIN constantly switches between imaging and magnetic modes, enabling quasi-simultaneous navigation and imaging of particles. We determine the limiting flow velocity to be 8.18 mL s −1 using a flow bifurcation experiment, that allows all particles to flow only through one branch of the bifurcation. Furthermore, we have succeeded in navigating the particles through the branch of a bifurcation phantom narrowed by either 60% or 100% stenosis, while imaging their accumulation on the stenosis. The particles in combination with therapeutic substances have a high potential for targeted drug delivery and could help to reduce the dose and improve the efficacy of the drug, e.g. for specific tumor therapy and ischemic stroke therapy. 4/17

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Purpose Intravascular optical coherence tomography (IVOCT) is a catheter‐based image modality allowing for high‐resolution imaging of vessels. It is based on a fast sequential acquisition of A‐scans with an axial spatial resolution in the range of 5–10 μm, that is, one order of magnitude higher than in conventional methods like intravascular ultrasound or computed tomography angiography. However, position and orientation of the catheter in patient coordinates cannot be obtained from the IVOCT measurements alone. Hence, the pose of the catheter needs to be established to correctly reconstruct the three‐dimensional vessel shape. Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is a three‐dimensional tomographic, tracer‐based, and radiation‐free image modality providing high temporal resolution with unlimited penetration depth. Volumetric MPI images are angiographic and hence suitable to complement IVOCT as a comodality. We study simultaneous bimodal IVOCT MPI imaging with the goal of estimating the IVOCT pullback path based on the 3D MPI data. Methods We present a setup to study and evaluate simultaneous IVOCT and MPI image acquisition of differently shaped vessel phantoms. First, the influence of the MPI tracer concentration on the optical properties required for IVOCT is analyzed. Second, using a concentration allowing for simultaneous imaging, IVOCT and MPI image data are acquired sequentially and simultaneously. Third, the luminal centerline is established from the MPI image volumes and used to estimate the catheter pullback trajectory for IVOCT image reconstruction. The image volumes are compared to the known shape of the phantoms. Results We were able to identify a suitable MPI tracer concentration of 2.5 mmol/L with negligible influence on the IVOCT signal. The pullback trajectory estimated from MPI agrees well with the centerline of the phantoms. Its mean absolute error ranges from 0.27 to 0.28 mm and from 0.25 mm to 0.28 mm for sequential and simultaneous measurements, respectively. Likewise, reconstructing the shape of the vessel phantoms works well with mean absolute errors for the diameter ranging from 0.11 to 0.21 mm and from 0.06 to 0.14 mm for sequential and simultaneous measurements, respectively. Conclusions Magnetic particle imaging can be used in combination with IVOCT to estimate the catheter trajectory and the vessel shape with high precision and without ionizing radiation.

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