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Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are recently used in a drug delivery system to pass the blood brain barrier. However, because the magnetic force acting on particles is proportional to their volumes, as the size of particles is small, the large magnetic field is required to produce enough magnetic force for overcoming the hydrodynamic drag force as well as other forces in blood vessels. Other difficulties for controlling MNPs are the complicated behavior of hydrodynamic drag force and uncertain factors in their dynamics. Therefore, open-loop control methods cannot guarantee guiding every MNP to the correct location. Considering these challenges, this paper introduces a feedback control approach for magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) in blood vessels. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time feedback controller that is designed for MNPs without aggregation. Simulation studies in MATLAB and real-time verifications on a physical model in COMSOL-MATLAB interface are performed to prove the feasibility of the proposed approach. It is shown that the proposed control scheme can accurately and effectively navigate the MNP to the correct path with feasible hardware supports.

One of the main challenges in the reduction of the electromagnetic wave is to develop lightweight absorber material with a wide absorption frequency. Hence, developing shielding materials that could shield electromagnetic radiation to prevent interference is highly desired for protection. The combination between the unique properties of polyamide (PA6) with free surfactant magnetite nanoparticle as core/shell nanofibers (PA6 @ Fe3O4) provides a promising low-cost, environmentally-friendly and electromagnetic shielding properties. Free surfactant magnetite nanoparticles (39 ± 3.5 nm average size) were prepared by the co-precipitation process and incorporated directly into the polyamide solution before the electrospinning technique. The mean average size of the prepared magnetite nanoparticles is compared based on X-ray diffraction (XRD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The morphology, thermal stability and magnetic behavior of the resultant magnetite nanofibers (150 ± 25 nm average size) were investigated using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), respectively. Shielding effectiveness for magnetite polyamide core/shell nanofibers was measured at frequency 30 MHz–1.5 GHz. The results showed that core/shell nanofibers provide not only well-dispersed magnetite nanoparticles in the polyamide matrix but also controllable sized nanofibers with high magnetization. In addition, even with low magnetite loading of 1.7%, the fabricated nanofiber shows high thermal stability with good performance as electromagnetic shielding nanofiber. Therefore, magnetite polyamide core/shell nanofiber could be considered as a promising material for shielding application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic drug targeting is a drug delivery approach in which therapeutic magnetizable particles are injected, generally into blood vessels, and magnets are then used to guide and concentrate them in the diseased target organ. Although many analytical, simulation, and experimental studies on capturing schemes for drug targeting have been conducted, there are few studies on delivering the nanoparticles to the target region. Furthermore, the sticking phenomenon of particles to vessels walls near the injection point, and far from the target region, has not been addressed sufficiently. In this paper, the sticking issue and its relationship to nanoparticle steering are investigated in detail using numerical simulations. For wide ranges of blood vessel size, blood velocity, particle size, and applied magnetic field, three coefficient numbers are uniquely generalized: vessel elongation, normal exit time, and force rate. With respect these new parameters, we investigated particle distribution trends for a Y-shaped channel and computed ratios of correctly guided particles and particles remaining in the vessel. We found that the sticking of particles to vessels occurred because of low blood flow velocity near the vessel walls, which is the main reason for low targeting efficiency when using a constant magnetic gradient. To reduce the sticking ratio of nanoparticles, we propose a novel field function scheme that uses a simple time-varying function to separate the particles from the walls and guide them to the target point. The capabilities of the proposed scheme were examined by several simulations of both Y-shaped channels and realistic three-dimensional (3-D) model channels extracted from brain vessels. The results showed a significant decrease in particle adherence to walls during the delivery stage and confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed magnetic field function method for steering nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Targeted drug delivery using magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) is a new therapeutic method and is being improved continually. However, recent improvements have focused mainly on the introduction and synthesis of special drugs and there are still limitations getting a drug to desired locations in the body, primarily owing to the small size of nanoparticles and the difficulty of controlling their movement in the body. This paper introduces a new electromagnetic actuation system for guiding MNPs in blood vessels. This system uses six electromagnets powered by currents that can generate a high-gradient magnetic field in the desired direction. A differential current coil (DCC) approach is used to calculate the current applied to each coil. Due to properties of the DCC approach, it is possible to use soft iron cores at the centers of the coils to amplify and concentrate the magnetic field in the desired region and generate a stronger magnetic force than the existing coil systems. To evaluate the performance of the actuation system, a model that guided nanoscale magnetic particles inside special channels was studied using commercial software. To improve the efficiency of the electromagnets for MNP guidance, the structural parameters of the cores and coils were chosen based on the simulation results to get the largest magnetic force in the region of interest, which was set as size of the mouse brain. The proposed actuation system is very compact and less expensive than previous systems. Furthermore, the simulation results demonstrated that the actuation system can generate adequate magnetophoretic forces for nanoparticle steering in a Y-shaped vascular model and can be potentially used as a propulsion tool for MNP guidance in blood vessels. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Multifunctional magnetic nanomaterials displaying high specific loss power (SLP) and high imaging sensitivity with good spatial resolution are highly desired in image-guided cancer therapy. Currently, commercial nanoparticles do not sufficiently provide such multifunctionality. For example, Resovist® has good image resolution but with a low SLP, whereas BNF® has a high SLP value with very low image resolution. In this study, hydrophilic magnesium iron oxide@tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide nanoparticles were prepared in two steps. First, hydrophobic magnesium iron oxide nanoparticles were fabricated using a thermal decomposition technique, followed by coating with tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using XRD, DLS, TEM, zeta potential, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and VSM. The hyperthermia and imaging properties of the prepared nanoparticles were investigated and compared to the commercial nanoparticles. One-dimensional magnetic particle imaging indicated the good imaging resolution of our nanoparticles. Under the application of a magnetic field of frequency 614.4 kHz and strength 9.5 kA/m, nanoparticles generated heat with an SLP of 216.18 W/g, which is much higher than that of BNF (14 W/g). Thus, the prepared nanoparticles show promise as a novel dual-functional magnetic nanomaterial, enabling both high performance for hyperthermia and imaging functionality for diagnostic and therapeutic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Targeted drug delivery using magnetic nanoparticles is an efficient technique as molecules can be directed toward specific tissues inside a human body. For the first time, we implemented a real-time imaging-based guidance system of nanoparticles using untethered electro-magnetic devices for simultaneous guiding and tracking. In this paper a low-amplitude-excitation-field magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is introduced. Based on this imaging technology, a hybrid system comprised of an electromagnetic actuator and MPI was used to navigate nanoparticles in a non-invasive way. The real-time low-amplitude-excitation-field MPI and electromagnetic actuator of this navigation system are achieved by applying a time-division multiplexing scheme to the coil topology. A one dimensional nanoparticle navigation system was built to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach and it could achieve a 2 Hz navigation update rate with the field gradient of 3.5 T/m during the imaging mode and 8.75 T/m during the actuation mode. Particles with both 90 nm and 5 nm diameters could be successfully manipulated and monitored in a tube through the proposed system, which can significantly enhance targeting efficiency and allow precise analysis in a real drug delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic-guided targeted drug delivery (TDD) systems can enhance the treatment of diverse diseases. Despite the potential and promising results of nanoparticles, aggregation prevents precise particle guidance in the vasculature. In this study, we developed a simulation platform to investigate aggregation during steering of nanoparticles using a magnetic field function. The magnetic field function (MFF) comprises a positive and negative pulsed magnetic field generated by electromagnetic coils, which prevents adherence of particles to the vessel wall during magnetic guidance. A commonly used Y-shaped vessel was simulated and the performance of the MFF analyzed; the experimental data were in agreement with the simulation results. Moreover, the effects of various parameters on magnetic guidance were evaluated and the most influential identified. The simulation results presented herein will facilitate more precise guidance of nanoparticles in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]