Magnetic nanoparticles that can be heat up once inside the body is a promising emerging idea in oncology. A number of such nanoparticles have been designed, but their capabilities have been limited. A major issue is being able to target as small an area as possible to be able to destroy just the tumor, leaving nearby healthy tissue mostly untouched. The radiofrequency waves that are beamed toward the tumor to resonate the nanoparticles can damage normal cells in the way. That’s why the frequency and strength of the signal has to be kept low, limiting the efficacy of nanoparticle-induced hyperthermia..
Researchers at Dartmouth Center of Nanotechnology Excellence have developed an entire new type of magnetic nanoparticles that are significantly better at converting RF energy into localized heat than comparable commercially available nanoparticles. This allows the same strength fields currently being used to attack tumors to be a lot more effective, being able to raise the temperature of the nanoparticles much faster while containing the killing effect.
Some details about the Dartmouth magnetic nanoparticles from the study abstract:
The MNPs consist of small (2–5 nm) single crystals of gamma-Fe2O3 with saccharide chains implanted in their crystalline structure, forming 20–40 nm flower-like aggregates with a hydrodynamic diameter of 110–120 nm. The MNPs form stable (>12 months) colloidal solutions in water and exhibit no hysteresis under an applied quasistatic magnetic field, and produce a significant amount of heat at field strengths as low as 100 Oe at 99–164 kHz.
Study in Journal of Applied Physics: Magnetic nanoparticles with high specific absorption rate of electromagnetic energy at low field strength for hyperthermia therapy…
Source: American Institute of Physics…
