Event
BIOE Seminar: In Vivo Quantitative Tracking of Immune Cell Therapies Using Magnetic Particle Imaging
Friday, February 9, 2024
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
A. James Clark Hall, Room #2121
Katharina Maisel
maiselka@umd.edu
Dr. Carlos M. Rinaldi-Ramos
University of Florida
Chair of Chemical Engineering
Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
In Vivo Quantitative Tracking of Immune Cell Therapies Using Magnetic Particle Imaging
Abstract
Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) is a new molecular imaging technology capable of unambiguous and quantitative tomographic imaging of the distribution of superparamagnetic nanoparticle tracers in vivo. While the term MPI may be confused with that for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), the two rely on distinct physics. In MPI, a tomographic image of the distribution of superparamagnetic nanoparticles is constructed by scanning a so-called field free region (FFR) through the domain of interest. Outside the FFR there is a quasi-static bias field strong enough to saturate the magnetic moments of the nanoparticles. But inside the FFR the dipole moments of the nanoparticles respond to the superimposed alternating excitation field. The signal used to construct an image in MPI arises due to the non-linear dynamic magnetization response of the nanoparticle dipole moments to the excitation field inside the FFR. At the field amplitudes and frequencies used in MPI there is no appreciable attenuation in signal strength due to tissue. Further, while there are magnetic species in the body (e.g., ferritin), they do not contribute an appreciable signal for MPI, allowing for unambiguous imaging of the distribution of one of the superparamagnetic nanoparticle tracers. This talk will explain image generation in MPI and discuss work developing tracers and using MPI to quantitatively track biodistribution of adoptively transferred T cell and dendritic cell cancer therapies.
Speaker Bio
Carlos M. Rinaldi-Ramos is the Chair and Dean’s Leadership Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Professor in the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, and completed degrees in Master of Science in Chemical Engineering, Master of Science in Chemical Engineering Practice, and Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to the University of Florida, Dr. Rinaldi-Ramos was a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez (UPRM). Dr. Rinaldi-Ramos’s research spans synthesis and characterization of magnetic nanoparticles for biomedical applications and evaluation of nanoparticle transport and diffusion in biological fluids. Current efforts focus on developing tracers for magnetic particle imaging (MPI), a new biomedical imaging modality that allows for non-invasive, unambiguous, and quantitative imaging of the in vivo distribution of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle tracers.
