Simulation of drug carrier particle capture by magnetic target

Abstract

The three-dimensional (3-D) implant assisted-magnetic drug targeting (IA-MDT) using ferromagnetic spherical targets implanted within blood vessels and subjected to a uniform externally applied magnetic field, for both (a) excluding and (b) including the effect from the vessel walls on the blood flow, were investigated. For the case (a), the blood velocity was in analytical form. For the case (b), the blood velocity at any particle position was obtained by applying bilinear interpolation to the numerical blood velocity data. In this research, the capture areas (As) of MDCPs for both cases were determined by the analysis of particle trajectories simulated from equations of motion. Then, the effects of various parameters, such as types of ferromagnetic materials in the targets and MDCPs, blood flow rates, mass fraction of the ferromagnetic material in the MDCPs, average radii of MDCPs (Rp) and the externally applied magnetic field strength (µ0H0) on the As were evaluated. The appropriate µ0H0 and Rp for the IA-MDT designs in large arteries and arterioles were reported. Furthermore, the impacts of the accumulation of MDCPs on the fluid flow and the local magnetic field around the magnetized target were considered. A two-dimensional (2-D) IA-MDT for the dynamic capture and accumulation of MDCPs by a ferromagnetic cylindrical target was developed. The velocities and volume concentrations of the MDCPs and fluid within the control area were obtained by using this dynamic model. The obtained results were shown to be capable of realistically predicting the dynamic behaviors of MDCP capture and accumulation around a ferromagnetic cylindrical target.