No Arabic abstract
We propose a new concept of magnetic focusing for targeting and accumulation of functionalized superparamagnetic nanoparticles in living organs through composite configurations of different permanent magnets. The proposed setups fulfill two fundamental requirements for in vivo experiments: 1) reduced size of the magnets to best focusing on small areas representing the targeted organs of mice and rats and 2) maximization of the magnetic driving force acting on the magnetic nanoparticles dispersed in blood. To this aim, several configurations of permanent magnets organized with different degrees of symmetry have been tested. The product B*grad(B) proportional to the magnetic force has been experimentally measured, over a wide area (20x20 mm^2), at a distance corresponding to the hypothetical distance of the mouse organ from the magnets. A non-symmetric configuration of mixed shape permanent magnets resulted in particularly promising to achieve the best performances for further in vivo experiments.
This paper describes the open Novamag database that has been developed for the design of novel Rare-Earth free/lean permanent magnets. The database software technologies, its friendly graphical user interface, advanced search tools and available data are explained in detail. Following the philosophy and standards of Materials Genome Initiative, it contains significant results of novel magnetic phases with high magnetocrystalline anisotropy obtained by three computational high-throughput screening approaches based on a crystal structure prediction method using an Adaptive Genetic Algorithm, tetragonally distortion of cubic phases and tuning known phases by doping. Additionally, it also includes theoretical and experimental data about fundamental magnetic material properties such as magnetic moments, magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy, exchange parameters, Curie temperature, domain wall width, exchange stiffness, coercivity and maximum energy product, that can be used in the study and design of new promising high-performance Rare-Earth free/lean permanent magnets. The results therein contained might provide some insights into the ongoing debate about the theoretical performance limits beyond Rare-Earth based magnets. Finally, some general strategies are discussed to design possible experimental routes for exploring most promising theoretical novel materials found in the database.
Purpose: To design a low-cost, portable permanent magnet-based MRI system capable of obtaining in vivo MR images within a reasonable scan time. Methods: A discretized Halbach permanent magnet array with a clear bore diameter of 27 cm was designed for operation at 50 mT. Custom built gradient coils, radiofrequency coil, gradient amplifiers and radiofrequency amplifier were integrated and tested on both phantoms and in vivo. Results: Phantom results showed that the gradient non-linearity in the y- and z-directions was less than 5% over a 15 cm field-of-view and did not need correcting. For the x-direction, it was significantly greater, but could be partially corrected in post-processing. Three dimensional In vivo scans of the brain of a healthy volunteer using a turbo-spin echo sequence were acquired at a spatial resolution of 4x4x4 mm in a time of ~2 mins. T1-weighted and T2-weighted scans showed a good degree of tissue contrast. In addition, in vivo scans of the knee of a healthy volunteer were acquired at a spatial resolution of ~3x2x2 mm within a twelve minutes to show the applicability of the system to extremity imaging. Conclusion: This work has shown that it is possible to construct a low-field MRI unit with hardware components costing less than 10000 euros, which is able to acquire human images in vivo within a reasonable data acquisition time. The system has a high degree of portability with magnet weight ~75 kg, gradient and RF amplifiers each 15 kg, gradient coils 10 kg and spectrometer 5 kg.
Low-temperature MnBi (hexagonal NiAs phase) exhibits anomalies in the lattice constants (a, c) and bulk elastic modulus (B) below 100 K, spin reorientation and magnetic susceptibility maximum near 90 K, and, importantly for high-temperature magnetic applications, an increasing coercivity (unique to MnBi) above 180 K. We calculate the total energy and magneto-anisotropy energy (MAE) versus (a, c) using DFT+U methods. We reproduce and explain all the above anomalies. We predict that coercivity and MAE increase due to increasing a, suggesting means to improve MnBi permanent magnets.
Cobalt carbide nanoparticles were processed using polyol reduction chemistry that offers high product yields in a cost effective single-step process. Particles are shown to be acicular in morphology and typically assembled as clusters with room temperature coercivities greater than 4 kOe and maximum energy products greater than 20 KJ/m3. Consisting of Co3C and Co2C phases, the ratio of phase volume, particle size, and particle morphology all play important roles in determining permanent magnet properties. Further, the acicular particle shape provides an enhancement to the coercivity via dipolar anisotropy energy as well as offering potential for particle alignment in nanocomposite cores. While Curie temperatures are near 510K at temperatures approaching 700 K the carbide powders experience an irreversible dissociation to metallic cobalt and carbon thus limiting operational temperatures to near room temperature.
We present a mechanistic model of drug release from a multiple emulsion into an external surrounding fluid. We consider a single multi-layer droplet where the drug kinetics are described by a pure diffusive process through different liquid shells. The multi-layer problem is described by a system of diffusion equations coupled via interlayer conditions imposing continuity of drug concentration and flux. Mass resistance is imposed at the outer boundary through the application of a surfactant at the external surface of the droplet. The two-dimensional problem is solved numerically by finite volume discretization. Concentration profiles and drug release curves are presented for three typical round-shaped (circle, ellipse and bullet) droplets and the dependency of the solution on the mass transfer coefficient at the surface analyzed. The main result shows a reduced release time for an increased elongation of the droplets.