Magnetic nanoparticle sensing: decoupling the magnetization from the excitation field

Remote sensing of magnetic nanoparticles has exciting applications for magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia and molecular detection. We introduce, simulate, and experimentally demonstrate an innovation---a sensing coil that is geometrically decoupled from the excitation field---for magnetic nanoparticle spectroscopy that increases the flexibility and capabilities of remote detection. The decoupling enhances the sensitivity absolutely; to small amounts of nanoparticles, and relatively; to small changes in the nanoparticle dynamics. We adapt a previous spectroscopic method that measures the relaxation time of nanoparticles and demonstrate a new measurement of nanoparticle temperature that could potentially be used concurrently during hyperthermia.