Micro CT-based Determination of Ferrofluid Iron Concentration

Magnetic nanoparticles are used in a wide range of applications. This includes various fields in particular in medical applications as hyperthermia and diagnostic imaging. For the latter an imaging technique named Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) has emerged in 2005. Actually MPI has accelerated the development of tailored magnetic nanoparticles as tracers. The administration of an appropriate ferrofluid to the human body makes a thorough characterization of the nanoparticle suspension regarding parameters as core diameter hydrodynamic diameter or iron concentration necessary. Methods to do so are for example transmission electron microscopy X-ray diffraction Mössbauer spectroscopy magnetic particle spectroscopy (MPS) photon cross-correlation spectroscopy (PCCS) or atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). A pragmatic and promising approach for the determination of the SPION iron concentration is micro computed tomography (LCT).