Investigation on trajectories and capture of magnetic drug carrier nanoparticles after injection into a direct vessel

Abstract

Toxic effects of drugs on healthy tissues in the traditional way of chemotherapy are considered as the serious challenges of cancer treatment. Magnetic drug targeting is a method that can be used for topical treatment of cancerous tumors as well as to reduce the side effects of drugs. In this paper, a finite element simulation is carried out to calculate the trajectories and capture of drug carrying Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles under the influence of an external magnetic field. Two different cases of uniform distribution of the nanoparticles in the blood flow, and a separate injection in the vein are considered and the effects of different parameters such as blood velocity, magnetic field intensity, and particle diameter on the capture efficiency are investigated. Results show that injection of magnetic nanoparticles in an appropriate site can be very effective in blood vessels with high blood flow velocities. The capture efficiency of the particles in a separate injection mode is shown to be improved up to 85% in comparison with the case of uniform flow of the particles in the blood vessel. However, it is indicated that the drug targeting is not successful when the injection site is located opposite to the permanent magnet. Moreover, it is observed that the capture efficiency of the drug carrying particles depends on the magnitude of the magnetic and drag forces. The capture efficiency increases with increase of the magnetic field intensity and particles diameter and decrease with the blood flow velocity.