MRI developer Bruker has introduced a magnetic particle imaging (MPI) system for preclinical imaging at the 2013 World Molecular Imaging Congress.
The preclinical MPI system was developed in collaboration with Philips Healthcare. Philips and Bruker will comarket the scanner.
MPI was invented and developed by scientists at Philips, with the first study on the technology published in Nature in 2005. MPI technology relies on the detection of the magnetic properties of iron-oxide nanoparticles injected into the bloodstream to produce 3D images, Bruker said.
MPI has potential for medical and industrial research and, ultimately, patient care, according to the firm. Studies in a mouse model have demonstrated that MPI can be used to produce real-time images that capture activity in the cardiovascular system. MPI could acquire high-time-resolution images in milliseconds, allowing for novel applications in which temporal resolution is able to resolve questions not addressed by many existing imaging techniques.
