A summing configuration based low noise amplifier for MPI and MPS

Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is a novel tomographic imaging modality which uses static and dynamic magnetic fields to measure the magnetic response generated by superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs). For the characterization of the SPIONs magnetic particle spectroscopy (MPS) is used. In the current research, a low noise amplifier (LNA) suitable for MPI and MPS is presented. LNA plays a significant role in the receive chain of MPI and MPS by amplifying the signals from the nanoparticles while keeping the noise induced through its own circuitry minimal. The LNA is based on the summing configuration and fabricated on a printed circuit board (PCB). Moreover, the prototyped LNA is compared with a commercially available pre-amplifier. The input voltage noise of the prototyped LNA with a receiving coil of series resistance of 0.551 mΩ and an inductance of 130 μH is 561 pV/√Hz with a noise figure (NF) of 11.57 dB.