An electromagnetic navigation system with real-time 2D magnetic particle imaging for targeted drug delivery

The magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been emerging as effective drug carriers. The electromagnetic actuated systems can steer the MNPs in vascular network for targeted drug delivery (TDD) systems. However, the real-time monitoring of MNPs remained as an open challenge which limits the application of these systems. In this paper, for the first time a 2D real-time imaging scheme has been developed for the MNPs guidance system. The proposed 2D navigation system based on magnetic particle imaging can allow real-time monitoring of MNPs and provides promising potentials for simultaneous monitoring and steering. In the experiments, MNPs of 45 to 65 nm diameter and 5 nm core (Iron) could be successfully monitored in real-time (update rate of 2 Hz) in 2D. The proposed 2D monitoring system can provide dynamic tracking of MNPs in targeted drug delivery and makes a MPI-based navigation system more feasible.