Three-dimensional detection of magnetic nanoparticles using a field-free line with weak field gradient and multiple pickup coils

We performed three-dimensional detection of magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) samples using the combination of a field-free line (FFL) and multiple pickup coils. In this method, two-dimensional maps of the signal fields generated by the MNP samples were used to reconstruct a three-dimensional image of the MNP concentration. In the experiment, a weak field gradient of the FFL (0.06-0.13 T m(-1)) was used. The degradation of the imaging quality owing to the weak field gradient was compensated using ten field maps. We successfully demonstrated the three-dimensional detection of two MNP samples. The Fe content of each sample was 10 and 20 mu g and the spacing for both samples was 16 mm. The results confirm the effectiveness of the present method for MNP detection using a weak field gradient. We also quantitatively discuss how the imaging quality degrades when the field gradient is decreased. (C) 2019 The Japan Society of Applied Physics