Quantification of magnetic nanocomposites through cross-calibration of MR and X-ray imaging.

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The aim of this particular research project is to analyse and quantify nanoparticle distributions within a phantom and biological tissue using both MRI and XCT technologies, and thus determine the most accurate and consistent methodology for nanoparticle quantification. Nanoparticle quantification would be required to analyse drug distribution during magnetic drug targeting (MDT) or for providing enhanced contrast for surgery. This is beneficial to the patient as diagnosis can be more accurate and timely, reducing the potential for mistakes and costly inefficiencies. Use of both, XµCT and MRI, in combination could increase the information attained and enhance the effective impact of the quantitative imaging. Our approach to this is to perform a cross-calibration of XµCT and MRI. For this a phantom system suitable for MRI and XCT will be developed, applied and tested. The result will be a 3-dimensional quantification of the nanoparticle content and their biodistribution with a standard imaging technique. The outcome of the quantification can then be applied to various biomedical applications where magnetic nanoparticles play a key role.