Abstract
Contactless manipulation of small objects, such as micro−/nanoparticles, biological entities, and even cells is required in varied applications in biosciences. Magnetic levitation (MagLev) is a new-generation methodology to achieve contactless magnetic manipulation of objects. Lately, magnetic levitation methodology has been utilized in several applications in bioscience, such as biosensors, diagnostics and tissue engineering. Magnetic levitation enables separation or positioning of objects in three-dimensional (3D) space based on their density features. Therefore, density-based separation assays utilizing magnetic levitation for biosensing or diagnostic purposes are developed recently. Specific particles or cells, which are markers of any disease, could be detected by sorting them based on density differences through magnetic levitation. On the other hand, tissue engineering studies and production of self-assembled 3D cell culture structures are carried out by magnetic levitation, where cells are magnetically positioned while allowing cell-cell interaction resulting in 3D cell culture formation. Lately, magnetic levitation methodologies received more interest in the field of bioscience due to advantages about the efficiency and cost. This contribution broadly summarizes recent efforts in magnetic levitation techniques that are mainly applied in diagnostics and tissue engineering.
Highlights
Mimicking the microenvironment of biological systems is crucial, especially for diagnostic and tissue engineering purposes
There is no additional equipment required instead of permanent magnets or electromagnets for magnetophoresis; sound waves, electrical source, and heat source are required for acoustophoresis, electrophoresis, and thermophoresis, respectively [6]
Magnetophoresis is a contactless manipulation method, which provides the manipulation of particles in the magnetic field provided by either permanent magnets or electromagnets
Summary
Mimicking the microenvironment of biological systems is crucial, especially for diagnostic and tissue engineering purposes. Magnetophoresis is a method that provides contact-free manipulation of particles in a magnetic field. The migration of particles in both types of magnetophoresis depends on the magnetic susceptibility differences between particle and medium. Magnetic levitation (MagLev) technique, which works with the principle of negative magnetophoresis, manipulates the diamagnetic particles in paramagnetic medium by providing antigravity conditions (Figure 1C) [10]. The diamagnetic particles that are suspended in a paramagnetic medium are positioned at specific height called levitation height depending on their densities when the external magnetic field is applied. Biological entities (as diamagnetic particles) are levitated and manipulated in a three-dimensional (3D) space as well as nonbiological particles in the paramagnetic medium [11]. There are different paramagnetic mediums that are used in magnetic levitation-based approaches, such as ferrofluids [13] and paramagnetic salt solutions [2].
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