An approach to targeted drug delivery based on uniform magnetic fields

The capability to deliver high effective dosages to specific sites in the human body has become the holy grail of drug delivery research. Drugs with proven effectiveness under in vitro investigation often reach a major roadblock under in vivo testing due to a lack of an effective delivery strategy. In addition, many clinical scenarios require delivery of agents that are therapeutic at the desired delivery point, but otherwise systemically toxic. We propose a method for targeted drug delivery by applying uniform magnetic fields to an injected superparamagnetic colloidal fluid carrying a drug. The experimental and theoretical models presented give insight into the use of magnetic microspheres for site-specific delivery of therapeutic agents and blood flow occlusion for embolotherapy. Index Terms--Embolotherapy, magnetic particles, magnetic targeting, targeted drug delivery.