Magnetically driven treatments: optimizing performance by mitigation of eddy currents

Abstract

Aim: In this work, we study the eddy current evolution naturally occurring in magnetically driven treatments, such as MRI and magnetic particle hyperthermia (MPH), and propose the mitigation of eddy currents by careful control of field parameters. Materials & methods: We start by simulation of typical MRI and MPH experimental setups to witness eddy currents and then we examine experimentally how field parameters (frequency, amplitude and pulse duration) mitigate eddy currents in a typical MPH treatment. Results and conclusion: By tuning the frequency, the amplitude and by applying pulsed field mode, we successfully attenuate undesirable heating, due to eddy currents’ evolution, on surrounding healthy tissues without sparing beneficial effect within the malignant region, thus treatment remains reliable yet with milder side effects.