MAGNETO-MOTIVE ULTRASOUND DETECTION OF MAGNETIC NANOPARTICLES

• US 20090043198A1
• Filed: 07/14/2008
• Published: 02/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Board of Regents of the University of Texas System (University of Texas System)
• Original Assignee: Board of Regents of the University of Texas System (University of Texas System)
• Inventors: Condit, Christopher, Milner, Thomas E., Feldman, Marc D., Oh, Jung-Hwan
• Granted Patent: US 8,454,511 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/437
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0048 Detecting, measuring or recording by applying mechanical forces or stimuli A61B5/021, A61B5/4884 and A61B9/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0515 Magnetic particle imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/415 the glands, e.g. tonsils, adenoids or thymus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/416 the spleen
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/418 lymph vessels, ducts or nodes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/08 Detecting organic movements or changes, e.g. tumours, cysts, swellings A61B8/02 - A61B8/06 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0816 using echo-encephalography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0833 involving detecting or locating foreign bodies or organic structures
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/12 in body cavities or body tracts, e.g. by using catheters catheters per se A61M25/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/13 Tomography A61B8/10, A61B8/12 take precedence; tomography for radiation diagnosis A61B6/02
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/481 involving the use of contrast agent, e.g. microbubbles introduced into the bloodstream analysis of echo signal exploiting properties of a contrast enhancer in devices for short-range imaging with acoustic waves G01S7/52039
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/486 involving arbitrary m-mode
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/488 involving Doppler signals

Abstract

Provided herein are systems, methods and compositions for the use of ultrasound for detection of cells and nanoparticles.

Claims

1. An apparatus for imaging, comprising:

a magnet for applying a magnetic field to a cell; and

an ultrasound detection system for detecting the cell with metallic nanoparticles interacting with the magnetic field.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ultrasound detection system is selected from the group consisting of color power Doppler, power Doppler, M-mode and B-scan modes.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ultrasound detection system is equipped with an aperture and a broadband linear array transducer.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the metallic nanoparticles are affected with energy capable of heating the detected cell.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cell with metallic nanoparticles comprises at least a macrophage, a cancer cell, or a component of iron-laden tissue.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the magnet is comprised of an iron-ferrite core and a solenoid coil.

7. A method for imaging, comprising the steps of:

applying a magnetic field to a cell, wherein the cell comprises a metallic composition and the magnetic field interacts with the metallic composition; and

detecting the cell by an ultrasound detection system and detecting the change in the cell caused by the interaction of the magnetic field with the metallic composition.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the applying of the magnetic field to a cell uses a magnetic field generator.

9. The magnetic field generator of claim 8, comprising a solenoid, a function generator, a current amplifier and a regulated DC power supply.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the metallic composition is located in the cell membrane, in the cell cytoplasm, or on the cell surface.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the detecting the cell uses an ultrasound detection system selected from the group consisting of color power Doppler, power Doppler, M-mode and B-scan modes.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the cell with metallic nanoparticles comprises at least a macrophage, a cancer cell, or a component of iron-laden tissue.