MR measurement of alloy magnetic susceptibility: towards developing tissue-susceptibility matched metals

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to relate structure to function mapped with high-temporal resolution electrophysiological recordings using metal electrodes. Additionally, MRI may be used to guide the placement of electrodes or conductive cannula in the brain. However, the magnetic susceptibility mismatch between implanted metals and surrounding brain tissue can severely distort MR images and spectra, particularly in high magnetic fields. In this study, we present a modified MR method of characterizing the magnetic susceptibility of materials that can be used to develop biocompatible, metal alloys that match the susceptibility of host tissue in order to eliminate MR distortions proximal to the implant. This method was applied at 4.7T and 11.1T to measure the susceptibility of a model solid-solution alloy of Cu and Sn, which is inexpensive but not biocompatible. MR-derived relative susceptibility values of four different compositions of Cu-Sn alloy deviated by less than 3.1% from SQUID magnetometry absolute susceptibility measurements performed up to 7T. These results demonstrate that the magnetic susceptibility varies linearly with atomic percentage in these solid-solution alloys, but are not simply the weighted average of Cu and Sn magnetic susceptibilities. Therefore susceptibility measurements are necessary when developing susceptibility-matched, solid-solution alloys for the elimination of susceptibility artifacts in MR. This MR method does not require any specialized equipment and is free of geometrical constraints, such as sample shape requirements associated with SQUID magnetometry, so the method can be used at all stages of fabrication to guide the development of a susceptibility matched, biocompatible device.