Towards clinical magnetic particle imaging: safety measurements of medical implants in a human cadaver model
Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) is a preclinical imaging modality with potential for future clinical usage. The radiation-free guidance of endovascular interventions with MPI is especially promising. Here, we present a safety study on the heating of metallic medical implants during MPI measurements under realistic conditions in an extracorporeally-perfused cadaver model. The measurements were conducted by fiberoptic thermometers and showed no detectable heating of the tested endovascular devices in the cadaver model. A temperature increase of no more than 0.11 K was observed on the surface of the investigated proximal femoral nail. The in vitro testing of orthopedic prostheses (knee and hip) revealed a slight heating effect of 0.45 K. The dependence of heating on the applied excitation frequency was measured. Overall, the tested repertoire of implants did not heat by a clinically-relevant amount in a human-sized MPI-scanner under realistic conditions, indicating their safe usage in future clinical applications.
Authors
- Florian Kleefeldt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7751-0403)
- Thomas Friedrich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5907-4245)
- Thomas Kampf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9905-0184)
- Dominik Peter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-3060-6304)
- Johanna Günther (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4589-9024)
- Philipp Gruschwitz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2565-8111)
- Patrick Vogel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0801-5146)
- Jörg Barkhausen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8937-1198)
- Martin A. Rückert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0232-5231)
- Volker C. Behr (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2362-3388)
- Teresa Reichl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6992-117X)
- Roman Kloeckner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5492-4792)
- Thorsten M. Buzug (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0399-8043)
- Franz Wegner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5969-3428)
- Thorsten Alexander Bley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9311-7985)
- Viktor Hartung (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6273-9172)
- Patrick N. Elfers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7865-8712)
Institutions
- University of Würzburg (DE)
- University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (DE)
- Institute of Computer Vision and Applied Computer Sciences (DE)
- Universitätsklinikum Würzburg (DE)
- Fraunhofer-Einrichtung für Individualisierte Medizintechnik (DE)
- University of Lübeck (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications Engineering
- Published
- 2025-12-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s44172-025-00561-9
- Primary Topic
- Characterization and Applications of Magnetic Nanoparticles
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00