Final Report Summary - MPI-ANGIO (Magnetic Particle Imaging for Safe Angiography)
Project MPI-ANGIO (PCIG13-GA-2013-618834) considers several innovations in Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI), a new imaging modality with the ideal image contrast for angiography that uses completely different hardware from X-ray, CT, or MRI. The contrast agent used in MPI, Super-Paramagnetic Iron Oxide nanoparticles (SPIOs), has been found to be extremely safe, even for chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients whose kidneys cannot safely excrete iodine contrast agents used during angiography today. Indeed, SPIOs are now EU approved to treat anemia in CKD patients. The MPI-ANGIO project proposes several innovations in MPI hardware, contrast agent and pulse sequences to significantly improve MPI’s spatial and temporal resolutions, making it competitive with CT Angiography.
Several specific objectives were pursued during the two project periods regarding the development of MPI as a safe angiographic imaging modality. First, a relaxometer for characterizing magnetic nanoparticle properties was designed and built. Second, scientific teams and collaborations were established with material scientists with the purpose of developing and testing optimized MPI magnetic nanoparticles for improved resolution in MPI. Third, hardware design was performed for an in-house MPI scanner to enable detection of SPIOs at high temporal and spatial resolutions. Finally, rapid MPI pulse sequences and novel image reconstruction techniques were investigated to accelerate MPI scans without loss of spatial resolution. The results of the project are available on the project website: https://sites.google.com/site/mpiangiography.
Given that currently only a handful of prototype small animal MPI scanners have been constructed worldwide, the results of the project are important in demonstrating the potential and performance limits of MPI angiography. The developed technology shows great promise as a noninvasive, nonionizing replacement for the millions of high-risk iodinated contrast studies performed annually. Moreover, the knowledge gained on hardware and pulse sequences for high spatio-temporal resolution MPI can render MPI a promising modality for the diagnosis of the top mortality diseases in Europe: strokes and other circulatory diseases (41% of all deaths) and cancer (25%).
Several specific objectives were pursued during the two project periods regarding the development of MPI as a safe angiographic imaging modality. First, a relaxometer for characterizing magnetic nanoparticle properties was designed and built. Second, scientific teams and collaborations were established with material scientists with the purpose of developing and testing optimized MPI magnetic nanoparticles for improved resolution in MPI. Third, hardware design was performed for an in-house MPI scanner to enable detection of SPIOs at high temporal and spatial resolutions. Finally, rapid MPI pulse sequences and novel image reconstruction techniques were investigated to accelerate MPI scans without loss of spatial resolution. The results of the project are available on the project website: https://sites.google.com/site/mpiangiography.
Given that currently only a handful of prototype small animal MPI scanners have been constructed worldwide, the results of the project are important in demonstrating the potential and performance limits of MPI angiography. The developed technology shows great promise as a noninvasive, nonionizing replacement for the millions of high-risk iodinated contrast studies performed annually. Moreover, the knowledge gained on hardware and pulse sequences for high spatio-temporal resolution MPI can render MPI a promising modality for the diagnosis of the top mortality diseases in Europe: strokes and other circulatory diseases (41% of all deaths) and cancer (25%).