Modeling the Interaction of Magnetic Particles in Blood Vessels and a Bulk Superconducting Magnet

Magnetic drug targeting (MDT) is one of the most effective drug delivery systems for multi-disease therapy. Since a bulk superconducting magnet could generate a superior magnetic field strength and gradient, there is great potential for achieving MDT external to the body. In this work, a three-dimensional Y-shaped blood vessel and bulk superconducting magnet model are built in the finite-element software package COMSOL Multiphysics. The model is used to simulate the drug delivery process via the bulk superconducting magnet. The results show that the bulk superconducting magnet can be used to improve the capture efficiency (CE) of magnetic particles (drug carriers) under a large range of conditions, including magnet position, particle diameter, magnet-tube distance, operating temperature for the magnet, and magnet size. It should be noted that, for a bulk magnet of dimensions <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">a</i> = 10 mm, <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">t</i> = 10 mm, at a distance <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">d</i> = 12 mm, with an operating temperature <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">T</i> = 50 K, and magnetic particle size <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">d</i><sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</sub> = 10 µm, the CE could be almost as high as 80%. In summary, this modelling framework provides a basis for guiding the design of a practical, external superconducting MDT system in the near future.