Alexey Tonyushkin
Oakland University, MI·Biomedical Engineering
Medical scans such as CT expose patients to ionizing radiation, and some imaging methods rely on toxic tracers. Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is a newer way to see inside the body.
- Fields
Biomedical Engineering
Physics
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
magnetic particle imaging
single-sided scanner
field-free line
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2027
What they work on
- Upgrade a single-sided magnetic particle imaging scanner built on a field-free line design so it can perform dynamic, multi-slice 3D imaging using mechanical rotation, height control of the field-free line and adjustable gradient strength.
- Automate signal acquisition and imaging sequences on the open-geometry scanner to achieve higher signal-to-noise ratio, more robust image reconstruction and a larger field of view.
- Test the scanner in live tumor-bearing mice, measuring its sensitivity and spatial and temporal resolution with magnetic nanoparticle tracers that do or do not carry targeting molecules.
More about the research
It detects injected magnetic nanoparticles, without ionizing radiation or toxic tracers. A major obstacle to using MPI in people is size. Scanners shaped like cylinders need huge amounts of power to create strong enough magnetic fields around a whole human body. This project instead develops an open, single-sided scanner, with all of its hardware on one side of the region being imaged. Such a design could work for both small animals and humans, and it is especially suited to breast cancer imaging.
Why it matters
A single-sided MPI scanner that could be scaled up to people may offer a sensitive, fast and radiation-free tool for breast cancer screening and for guiding biopsies. Because the open design avoids the power demands of cylindrical scanners, it could help move MPI from research toward clinical use in women's health.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Kai Wu
Texas Tech University, TX·Biomedical Engineering·Early-career
Develop bendable magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) thin-film sensors that measure the field in three directions, with built-in electronics, to form scalp-conforming arrays for room-temperature magnetoencephalography.
James Pipe
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Biomedical Engineering
Develop a portfolio of spiral-based MRI sequences optimized for signal-to-noise ratio and designed to pair with modern AI-based image reconstruction, to speed up common clinical scans and keep image quality and contrast consistent.
Kuang Gong
University of Florida, FL·Biomedical Engineering
Develop a data-driven respiratory motion-correction framework with phase-matched attenuation correction to reduce breathing blur in Gallium-68 PET scans of tumors.
The school
Oakland University: 5 labs on PI Pages, $39M a year on research, 60 research doctorates a year.
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