A Room Temperature Ultrasensitive Magnetoelectric Susceptometer for Quantitative Tissue Iron Detection

Abstract

Iron is a trace mineral that plays a vital role in the human body. However, absorbing and accumulating excessive iron in body organs (iron overload) can damage or even destroy an organ. Even after many decades of research, progress on the development of noninvasive and low-cost tissue iron detection methods is very limited. Here we report a recent advance in a room-temperature ultrasensitive biomagnetic susceptometer for quantitative tissue iron detection. The biomagnetic susceptometer exploits recent advances in the magnetoelectric (ME) composite sensors that exhibit an ultrahigh AC magnetic sensitivity under the presence of a strong DC magnetic field. The first order gradiometer based on piezoelectric and magnetostrictive laminate (ME composite) structure shows an equivalent magnetic noise of 0.99 nT/rt Hz at 1 Hz in the presence of a DC magnetic field of 0.1 Tesla and a great common mode noise rejection ability. A prototype magnetoelectric liver susceptometry has been demonstrated with liver phantoms. The results indicate its output signals to be linearly responsive to iron concentrations from normal iron dose (0.05 mg Fe/g liver phantom) to 5 mg Fe/g liver phantom iron overload (100X overdose). The results here open up many innovative possibilities for compact-size, portable, cost-affordable, and room-temperature operated medical systems for quantitative determinations of tissue iron.

Chip-scale high Q-factor glassblown microspherical shells for magnetic sensing

“…Room temperature, low cost magnetic sensing for bio-magnetic applications are being pursued over a wide range of technologies including atomic magnetometers, 1 nitrogen-vacancy in diamond magnetometers, 2,3 and magnetoelectric magnetometers 4,5 …”

A novel magnetoelectric biomagnetic susceptometer on iron level detection with mice tissue in vitro

“…Recently, we reported the development of a room temperature BLS, exploiting the unique feature of the magnetoelectric (ME) composite sensor in detecting weak AC magnetic/electric signals in the presence of strong DC magnetic bias field. [16, 17] It should be noted that the room temperature BLS based on ME sensors is different from several other efforts of room temperature BLS which required precise cancellation of the strong bias magnetic field at the detectors location in order to pick-up very weak biomagnetic signal. [18–20] Hence, the ME-sensor-based BLS technology developed is both “conventional” and “disruptive”.…”

“…As a composite sensor, the sensitivity can be enhanced by optimizing independently the piezoelectric and magnetostrictive components. In this paper, we report that, superior to PZT ceramics that we previously employed, [16, 17] the application of piezoelectric single crystal PIN-PMN-PT to the composite ME sensors enhances the ME coefficient by 10X.…”

Improving the magnetoelectric performance of Metglas/PZT laminates by annealing in a magnetic field

“…Understanding and optimizing the magnetoelectric coefficient is of great interest to the biomagnetic community as a magnetometer [8], remote actuator [9], and implantable pressure sensor [10]. Inexpensive room temperature magnetometers capable of biomagnetic measurements have the potential to replace costlier superconducting quantum interference devices and increase patient access.…”