Abstract #1811

Pintaske J, Mueller-Bierl B, Schick F

Superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles have been used to label cells in order to image cell migration with MRI by exploiting the high sensitivity of MRI techniques to the SPIO induced field distortions. In dependence on the specific cell labeling technique the SPIO particles are distributed completely different on the cellular level. We used a numerical approach and studied the magnetic field distortion caused by SPIO labeled cells in dependence on the distribution of SPIO nanoparticles on the cellular level. We show numerically that the magnetic field is sensitive to its shape and intracellular distribution of magnetic dipoles (SPIO particles) only in close proximity to the cell. Outside this region, the magnetic field cannot be distinguished from the magnetic field created by a spherical particle with the same total magnetic moment.