Magnetics Business & Technology - November/December 2022 - 18

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
A World First in Magnetic Imaging Technology
Monash University has launched a world-first technology that can
detect magnetic nanoparticles anywhere in the body, enabling enhanced
medical applications such as tracking of beneficial CAR-T
cells during cancer therapy.
The new technology was funded through an ARC LIEF grant with
contributions from Monash University and RMIT, and combines
Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) with Computed Tomography
(CT) and Hyperthermia capabilities for preclinical, in vivo research.
It is located at the Monash Alfred campus and is operated
by the Alfred Research Alliance-Monash Biomedical Imaging
(ARA-MBI) platform.
MPI is a new, non-invasive molecular imaging technique that offers
significantly increased tracer sensitivity over MRI and remarkably
faster acquisition times than nuclear medicine, opening the
door to cutting-edge opportunities for interdisciplinary projects in
medical research, chemistry and biotechnology.
The preclinical Momentum MPI system, developed by Magnetic
Insight, is the world's first MPI system with CT and Hyperthermia
capabilities. The technology quantitatively detects magnetic
nanoparticles anywhere in the body with exceptional sensitivity,
enabling researchers the ability to track the nanoparticles in vivo,
where they can bind to particular cells of interest. Using the same
in vivo living subject, the Hyperthermia technology can then define
an area with pin-point accuracy and induce localised heating
in this area up to a desired therapeutic temperature designed to
kill the cells that have been bound with the nanoparticles.
The capabilities can also monitor chemotherapy treatments and
enhance their efficacy with the addition of targeted heating. " With
just 0.01 percent of chemotherapy currently reaching the cancer
tissue, it is so important to boost the potency of the drugs reaching
the target, " said Dr Karen Alt, Head of the NanoTheranostics
Laboratory at the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases, Monash
University.
" MPI and targeted Hyperthermia are seen as the most promising
new developments in the non-invasive diagnostic imaging and
therapy field in decades as it combines the non-invasive nature of
MRI with the sensitivity of PET, thereby unifying the best from two
mainstream clinical modalities, " said Associate Professor Christoph
Hagemeyer, Head of the NanoBiotechnology Laboratory at
the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases, Monash University.
The ARA-MBI Platform offers preclinical researchers access to
the latest imaging equipment integrating high resolution imaging
and diagnostics to inform personalised therapeutic targets. The
technologies include Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), MPI
and Positron Emission Tomography (PET)/CT scanners.
Monash and its collaborators are world-leaders in advanced
nanoparticle fabrication, which is critical to MPI reaching its full
potential. This is because MPI resolution and sensitivity are driven
as much by the magnetic tracer's properties as by the imaging
hardware. The facility will be used to develop specialised iron oxide
nanoparticles with the highest MPI sensitivity and responsiveness,
enabling new opportunities for research in critical research
fields such as vaccine technology development.
Dr Patrick Goodwill, expert in Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI)
18 Magnetics Business & Technology * November/December 2022
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