Biomagnetic detection and treatment of Alzheimer's Disease

1. A method for in-vivo detection of neurodegenerative disease comprising:

SQUID imaging of a subject's head after the subject having been administered superparamagnetic nanoparticles comprising an iron-containing core, a coating covering the core, and a probe molecule conjugated to the coating wherein the probe molecule locates the superparamagnetic nanoparticle to a target in the brain that is characteristic of the neurodegenerative disease;

magnetizing the superparamagnetic nanoparticles using external magnetic coils with a field strength and application time that causes the superparamagnetic nanoparticles attached to the target to produce magnetic remanence fields lasting more than a microsecond but less than tens of seconds;

measuring the decaying remanence magnetic fields of the superparamagnetic nanoparticles attached to the target and not from unattached superparamagnetic nanoparticles to obtain magnetic field measurements; and

detecting neurodegenerative disease from the magnetic field measurements and the magnetic properties of the superparamagnetic nanoparticles.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the iron-containing core and coating covering the core are of a discrete size between about 20 and 30 nm.

3. The method of claim 1 where in the iron containing core and coating covering the core are of a discrete size between about 25-28 nm.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the coating covering the core allows the superparamagnetic nanoparticles to pass through the blood-brain barrier.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the probe that locates the superparamagnetic nanoparticle to the target in the brain is selected from a peptide, a protein, an antibody, a fAb or an agent.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the neurodegenerative disease is selected from Alzheimer's Disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Lewybody disease, and strokes.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining the quantity of a the target in the brain from the magnetic field measurements.

8. A method as in claim 1 , further comprising administering to the subject the superparamagnetic nanoparticles comprising an iron-containing core, a coating covering the core, and a probe molecule conjugated to the coating wherein the probe molecule locates the superparamagnetic nanoparticle to the target in the brain that is characteristic of the neurodegenerative disease, prior to SQUID imaging of the subject's head.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein administering superparamagnetic nanoparticles comprises injection of the superparamagnetic nanoparticles into the blood stream.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein administering superparamagnetic nanoparticles comprises injection of the superparamagnetic nanoparticles into the brain.

11. A method for in-vivo detection of Alzheimer's Disease comprising: determining the location and amount of amyloid plaques in the brain associated with Alzheimer's Disease comprising:

SQUID imaging of a subject's head after the subject having been administered a plurality of superparamagnetic nanoparticles comprising an iron-containing core, a coating, and a probe that is conjugated to each superparamagnetic nanoparticle for locating each superparamagnetic nanoparticle to a target comprising amyloid plaque;

wherein SQUID imaging comprises magnetizing the plurality of superparamagnetic nanoparticles using external magnetic coils with a field strength and application time that causes each of the superparamagnetic nanoparticles attached to the target to produce magnetic remanence fields lasting more than a microsecond but less than tens of seconds; measuring the emitted decaying fields from only those superparamagnetic nanoparticles that have attached to the target and not from those superparamagnetic nanoparticles that have not attached to the target to obtain magnetic field measurements;

determining the location and quantity of the target in the brain from the magnetic field measurements; and

detecting Alzheimer's Disease from the location and quantity of the target in the brain.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the iron-containing core and the coating are of a discrete size between about 20 and 30 nm in size.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the iron-containing core and the coating are of a discrete size between about 25 and 28 nm in size.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the coating allows the superparamagnetic nanoparticle to pass through the blood-brain barrier.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein the probe binds to the amyloid plaque and is selected from a peptide, a protein, an antibody, a fAb, or an agent.

16. A method as in claim 11 , further comprising administering to the subject the plurality of superparamagnetic nanoparticles comprising an iron-containing core, a coating, and a probe that is conjugated to each superparamagnetic nanoparticle for locating each superparamagnetic nanoparticles to the target associated with Alzheimer's Disease, prior to SQUID imaging of the subject's head.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein administering superparamagnetic nanoparticles comprises injection of the superparamagnetic nanoparticles into the blood stream.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein administering superparamagnetic nanoparticles comprises injection of the superparamagnetic nanoparticles into the brain.