Filming the blood flowing through a beating heart? This is now possible thanks to a new technology called Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI). This brand new procedure can detect magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles inside the body with high sensitivity and with high temporal and spatial resolution; this can help detect, for example, cardiovascular problems or tumors. At the Charité university hospital in Berlin, an MPI device developed in Germany has now been dedicated which was partly funded with almost 4 million euros by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) within the scope of a large-device project. The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) was one of the partners in this cooperation project; it is responsible for the metrological characterization of the nanoparticles used. During her address, Federal Research Minister Dr. Johanna Wanka emphasized the importance of the opportunities provided by this new diagnostic procedure...
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