Nanomagnetic Carriers for Bioengineering Applications

II-1: Nanomagentic carriers for bioengineering applications

R.V. Ramanujan School of Materials Engineering Nanyang Technological University

Abstract

Magnetic materials in fine powder form, called carriers, have been used for a variety of clinical applications. Applications include MRI contrast agents, selective cell separation, immunoassay, drug delivery and radionuclide therapy, hyperthermia, magnetic separation in molecular biology and gene therapy. In the area of drug delivery, magnetic carriers have been studied for both controlled drug release and for drug targeting. Rapid advances are being made by reducing such carriers to nanosize. The main opportunity in this area lies in the synthesis and characterization of functionalized coated nanomagnetic carriers followed by in vitro and in vivo testing. Our work on such carriers will be described and the principles of magnetic drug targeting will be outlined. A specific example of materials development of magnet-hydrogel composite carriers for triggered drug release and hyperthermia treatment of cancer will be discussed. Future directions which can be fruitfully examined to extend the range of applications of these carriers will be outlined.