Dynamics and Steering of Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles in Simple and Branched Vessels: Simulation & Experiment (DyNano)

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Magnetic drug targeting (MDT) using superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) is an effective method for increasing drug delivery to tumour tissue in cancer therapy, thereby reducing the total amount of drug and the side effects associated with the therapy. While the efficacy of the approach has already been proven in studies, approaches to adapt and optimise this method to the individual case are still lacking. Therefore, the aim of this application is to lay the foundations for such patient-specific optimisation: Comparable to the procedure already successfully practised in radiotherapy, the magnetic fields for MDT shall be optimised in future on the basis of the patient's vascular structure and the characteristics of the tumour: The proportion of the pharmaceutical that reaches the tumour tissue shall be maximised. To this end, a physiological-physical model of the movement and magnetic field-based steering of SPIONs shall be developed, implemented as a Finite-element model and experimentally validated in the proposed project. This model shall allow to optimise the time-variable field strength and position of one or more electromagnets with regard to the particle concentration in a target area. Within the project, the steering in channel systems with single and multiple branchings as well as at the transition from the vessel into the surrounding tissue will be investigated. This will provide the basis for transferring the optimisation approach to given vascular and tumour models in clinical application in future. The mathematical-algorithmic development of the simulation and optimisation tool is the responsibility of the Chair of Applied Mathematics III (AM3) at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). Throughout the course of the project, this model will be validated and extended on the basis of experiments. The associated experimental setups will be developed jointly by the Institute of Electronics Engineering (LTE) of FAU and the Section for Experimental Oncology and Nanomedicine (SEON) of University Hospital Erlangen. LTE is responsible for the measurement of SPION concentration and for the particle steering setup, SEON for the nanoparticles and the vascular models including experiments on human umbilical arteries.