Validation of High Gradient Magnetic Field Based Drug Delivery to Magnetizable Implants Under Flow

TLDR

Late‑stage thrombosis of drug‑eluting stents has increased, creating a need for new coronary artery disease interventions. The study aims to develop a minimally invasive, magnetically targeted drug delivery system that delivers repeatable, patient‑specific doses to magnetizable stents for preventing coronary restenosis, with future potential for tumors and other localized pathologies. The system places a weakly magnetizable stent in the cardiovascular system, uses a modest external field to generate high local magnetic gradients that attract and hold magnetically susceptible drug carriers, allowing repeatable, patient‑specific intravenous doses of therapeutic agents such as antineoplastics, radioactivity, or cells to be delivered to the implant site.

Abstract

The drug-eluting stent's increasingly frequent occurrence late stage thrombosis have created a need for new strategies for intervention in coronary artery disease. This paper demonstrates further development of our minimally invasive, targeted drug delivery system that uses induced magnetism to administer repeatable and patient specific dosages of therapeutic agents to specific sites in the human body. Our first aim is the use of magnetizable stents for the prevention and treatment of coronary restenosis; however, future applications include the targeting of tumors, vascular defects, and other localized pathologies. Future doses can be administered to the same site by intravenous injection. This implant-based drug delivery system functions by placement of a weakly magnetizable stent or implant at precise locations in the cardiovascular system, followed by the delivery of magnetically susceptible drug carriers. The stents are capable of applying high local magnetic field gradients within the body, while only exposing the body to a modest external field. The local gradients created within the blood vessel create the forces needed to attract and hold drug-containing magnetic nanoparticles at the implant site. Once these particles are captured, they are capable of delivering therapeutic agents such as antineoplastics, radioactivity, or biological cells.