Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is an emerging functional molecular imaging technique capable of real-time, quantitative visualization of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs). However, the lack of anatomical information limits its standalone diagnostic capability. To address this, we developed an MPI-CT dual-modality imaging system that integrates molecular sensitivity with structural precision. The system employs a sequential acquisition strategy to achieve spatially co-registered multimodal imaging. The MPI subsystem operates under a 3 T/m gradient field and achieves a spatial resolution of 1.0 mm. The spectral computed tomography (CT) subsystem consists of an X-ray emission unit, a photon-counting detector, a motion control unit, and a centralized data processing module. Finally, a mouse–magnetic particle phantom was fabricated for experimental validation, and dual-modality fusion of MPI and spectral CT images was successfully achieved, demonstrating the feasibility of high-resolution, quantitative MPI-CT imaging.
Tang et al. (Fri,) studied this question.