Magnetic fields play an important role in a wide range of applications. They are used for instance in electric motors, dynamos and for signal transmission of radio or television. Furthermore, magnetic fields are used for medical diagnosis, where the most prominent example is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In each of these applications, the magnetic field is tailored to fulfill certain needs. For instance, in MRI, the formation of two field configurations is required: A spatially homogeneous and a linearly increasing gradient field. These special fields can be generated by electromagnetic coils, whereas the coil geometry and the applied current determine the field characteristics. For these simple field configurations, the optimal coil topology is well known. A homogeneous magnetic field is generated by a Helmholtz coil pair consisting of two identical coils that are placed symmetrically along a common axis, and separated by distance R equal to the coil radius. Each coil carries equal current owing in same direction. Similarly, a gradient field is generated by a Maxwell coil pair, which has the same topology but current owing in opposing direction and a larger coil distance of R√{square root over (3)}.
Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) is an emerging medical imaging modality. The first versions of MPI were two-dimensional in that they produced two-dimensional images. Future versions will be three-dimensional (3D). A time-dependent, or 4D, image of a non-static object can be created by combining a temporal sequence of 3D images to a movie, provided the object does not significantly change during the data acquisition for a single 3D image.
MPI is a reconstructive imaging method, like Computed Tomography (CT) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Accordingly, an MP image of an object's volume of interest is generated in two steps. The first step, referred to as data acquisition, is performed using an MPI scanner. The MPI scanner has means to generate a static magnetic gradient field, called “selection field”, which has a single field free point (FFP) at the isocenter of the scanner. In addition, the scanner has means to generate a time-dependent, spatially nearly homogeneous magnetic field. Actually, this field is obtained by superposing a rapidly changing field with a small amplitude, called “drive field”, and a slowly varying field with a large amplitude, called “focus field”. By adding the time-dependent drive and focus fields to the static selection field, the FFP may be moved along a predetermined FFP trajectory throughout a volume of scanning surrounding the isocenter. The scanner also has an arrangement of one or more, e.g. three, receive coils and can record any voltages induced in these coils. For the data acquisition, the object to be imaged is placed in the scanner such that the object's volume of interest is enclosed by the scanner's field of view, which is a subset of the volume of scanning.
The object must contain magnetic nanoparticles; if the object is an animal or a patient, a contrast agent containing such particles is administered to the animal or patient prior to the scan. During the data acquisition, the MPI scanner steers the FFP along a deliberately chosen trajectory that traces out the volume of scanning, or at least the field of view. The magnetic nanoparticles within the object experience a changing magnetic field and respond by changing their magnetization. The changing magnetization of the nanoparticles induces a time dependent voltage in each of the receive coils. This voltage is sampled in a receiver associated with the receive coil. The samples output by the receivers are recorded and constitute the acquired data. The parameters that control the details of the data acquisition make up the scan protocol.
In the second step of the image generation, referred to as image reconstruction, the image is computed, or reconstructed, from the data acquired in the first step. The image is a discrete 3D array of data that represents a sampled approximation to the position-dependent concentration of the magnetic nanoparticles in the field of view. The reconstruction is generally performed by a computer, which executes a suitable computer program. Computer and computer program realize a reconstruction algorithm. The reconstruction algorithm is based on a mathematical model of the data acquisition. As with all reconstructive imaging methods, this model is an integral operator that acts on the acquired data; the reconstruction algorithm tries to undo, to the extent possible, the action of the model.
Such an MPI apparatus and method have the advantage that they can be used to examine arbitrary examination objects—e.g. human bodies—in a non-destructive manner and without causing any damage and with a high spatial resolution, both close to the surface and remote from the surface of the examination object. Such an arrangement and method are generally known and are first described in DE 101 51 778 A1 and in Gleich, B. and Weizenecker, J. (2005), “Tomographic imaging using the nonlinear response of magnetic particles” in nature, vol. 435, pp. 1214-1217. The arrangement and method for magnetic particle imaging (MPI) described in that publication take advantage of the non-linear magnetization curve of small magnetic particles.
In the paper Weizenecker J. et al., “Magnetic particle imaging using a field free line”, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 41 (2008) 105009, a simulation study on the use of a field free line (FFL) in magnetic particle imaging is presented. Further, a schematic setup of the simulated scanner geometry and the path of the FFL are described. The setup comprises a ring of 32 small coils (selection field coils) producing the rotating FFL. Two pairs of larger loops (drive field coils) move this FFL over the field of view. The diameter of the selection field coil ring is 1 m. Superimposing the selection field and the drive field, the FFL moves along the drive field vector, which over time has the form of a rosette, provided that the orientation of the FFL is always perpendicular to the drive field vector. Hence, the FFL scans back and forth while rotating slowly. This setup has, however, significantly higher power losses than the above described MPI apparatus exploiting the use and movement of a FFP and, hence, might not be realizable.