Phase I Amount
$1,008,452
In this SBIR grant proposal, "Ultra-low distortion and noise electronics to enable a clinical MPI imaging platform," we will develop the RF subsystem for a clinical magnetic particle imaging (MPI) platform to enable three classes of MPI applications: cell tracking, functional imaging, and endogenous contrast imaging. Our overall approach is to improve sensitivity and resolution by minimizing distortion, adding transmit/receive channels, decoupling, improving preamplifiers, and developing new pulse sequences. MPI is an emerging molecular and tracer imaging technology that directly detects magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with high sensitivity at mm-scale resolutions. MPI images are direct views of tracer distribution with no signal arising from tissue, no perturbations from materials such as air, and image intensity directly linear with tracer concentration. This "hot-spot" contrast provides spatial localization and quantification without ambiguity. MPI's contrast is similar to nuclear medicine but without the workflow, safety, and half-life limitations of a radioactive tracer. MPI has many applications in the brain and body, as demonstrated by our customers in small animals. Despite significant efforts by multiple institutions, the lack of a clinical MPI scanner remains a significant limitation for the technique. In this Direct to Phase II SBIR proposal, we will advance the medical imaging field by building the world's first general-purpose clinical MPI scanner to serve the myriad applications our customers are testing on our preclinical instrument. We will design and implement a new transmit/receive subsystem and install it in our prototype scanner to achieve the performance necessary for clinical imaging applications. This new transmit/receive subsystem includes the following innovations that push our sensitivity from our current rough prototype to near the physics limit through the following specific aims: Aim 1. Drive transmit distortion and the noise floor to the physics limit for a one-channel Tx/Rx coil Aim 2. Design a clinical multi-channel transmit and receive subsystem Aim 3. Develop new acquisition pulse sequences to improve sensitivity, resolution, and speed
Public Health Relevance Statement: NARRATIVE Despite the importance of medical imaging in modern clinical diagnosis and treatment, current techniques struggle in essential areas such as monitoring newly developed cell-based therapies, detecting diseases of inflammation, and quantitatively detecting bleeding. Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) is an emerging medical imaging technology that provides scientists and clinicians with a new tool for understanding, diagnosing, and monitoring these pathologies. In this Direct-to-Phase II SBIR grant, we will develop critical technologies to bring the sensitivity and resolution of the world's first human-scale MPI scanner near the physics limits, marking a significant step forward on the path to a commercial clinical MPI scanner.
Project Terms: Air; Amplifiers; Anatomic Sites; Anatomic structures; Anatomy; Animals; Brain; Brain Nervous System; Encephalon; Cells; Cell Body; Classification; Systematics; Climacteric; life change; Diagnosis; Disease; Disorder; Electronics; electronic; electronic device; Engineering; Floor; Goals; Grant; Half-Life; Hemorrhage; Bleeding; blood loss; Hemosiderin; Human; Modern Man; Inflammation; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; MR Imaging; MR Tomography; MRI; MRIs; Medical Imaging, Magnetic Resonance / Nuclear Magnetic Resonance; NMR Imaging; NMR Tomography; Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Zeugmatography; Marketing; Medical Imaging; Medicine; Modernization; Noise; Discipline of Nuclear Medicine; Atomic Medicine; Nuclear Medicine; Radiology / Radiation Biology / Nuclear Medicine; Pathology; Physics; Positron-Emission Tomography; PET; PET Scan; PET imaging; PETSCAN; PETT; Positron Emission Tomography Medical Imaging; Positron Emission Tomography Scan; Rad.-PET; positron emission tomographic (PET) imaging; positron emission tomographic imaging; positron emitting tomography; Radioactive Tracers; Role; social role; Safety; Signal Transduction; Cell Communication and Signaling; Cell Signaling; Intracellular Communication and Signaling; Signal Transduction Systems; Signaling; biological signal transduction; stem cells; Progenitor Cells; Technology; Testing; Tissues; Body Tissues; single photon emission computed tomography; SPECT; SPECT imaging; Single-Photon Emission-Computed Radionuclide Tomography; Work; Roentgen Rays; X-Radiation; X-Ray Radiation; X-ray; Xray; Imaging Techniques; Imaging Procedures; Imaging Technics; Measures; improved; Area; Clinical; Phase; Physiologic; Physiological; insight; Electrical Capacitance; capacitance; Electric Capacitance; Measurement; cell mediated therapies; cell-based therapeutic; cell-based therapy; cellular therapeutic; cellular therapy; Cell Therapy; clinical diagnosis; tool; instrument; Physiologic pulse; Pulse; Scientist; Complex; Techniques; System; Magnetism; magnetic; magnetic field; particle; Performance; voltage; Speed; Structure; Categories; new technology; novel technologies; Modality; Institution; image-based method; imaging method; imaging modality; Applications Grants; Grant Proposals; International; Pre-Clinical Model; Preclinical Models; Radioactive; Resolution; resolutions; research clinical testing; Clinical Evaluation; Clinical Testing; clinical test; Clinical Treatment; trial regimen; trial treatment; Functional Imaging; Physiologic Imaging; physiological imaging; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; SBIR; Small Business Innovation Research; Monitor; transmission process; Transmission; Molecular; Tracer; Shipping; Development; developmental; cellular imaging; cell imaging; nano; Image; imaging; pre-clinical; preclinical; designing; design; Imaging technology; Coupling; innovate; innovative; innovation; prototype; commercialization; imaging platform; Magnetic nanoparticles; imaging system; contrast imaging; human imaging; clinical imaging; nuclear imaging; imager; Infrastructure; Visualization; ultrasound
