Specific, Non-Invasive, and Magnetically Directed Targeting of Magnetic Erythrocytes in Blood Vessels of Mice

Objective: Targeting in vivo has been a spotlight for precise medicine. Multiple strategies have been proposed for this issue. However, the efficiency of solely biochemical strategies currently remains to be improved. It has been thought that external field-guided targeting will be a beneficial supplement for the passive and the active targeting. Methods: Here, we focused on the magnetic field-guided targeting of magnetized erythrocytes, discovering that a focused magnetic field can direct aggregation of magnetic erythrocytes into a specific region in vivo. Results: The systematic investigation about the aggregates in cerebral vessels showed that the aggregates were isotropic and able to stably exist for six hours. The formation of cellular aggregates can alter echoing characteristic of the blood vessels meaning the vascular wall became more rigid. If the erythrocytes were repeatedly directed into aggregation in an identical region, a stable plaque of erythrocytes can form, which can mimic the process of thrombosis. Significance: We believe these results will be beneficial to the development of novel engineered strategy for targeted delivery of drugs and modeling of vascular diseases.
Source: IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering - Category: Biomedical Engineering Source Type: research