Magnetic targeting of aggregated nanoparticles for advanced lung therapies: A robotics approach

This paper studies the use of the innovative concept of MRI-targeted drug delivery platform for robotic targeting of magnetized aerosol in the lungs. The goal is to increase dramatically the therapeutic effectiveness by increasing the aerosol drug concentration in the lesion while reducing its presence in healthy lung tissues. For this purpose, a parametric analysis is conducted to specify the magnetic forces required to efficiently target magnetized liposomal agents to the lungs. The force capabilities of the MRI system are assessed and their limitations with respect to magnetic targeting are identified. To overcome these limitations, the paper proposes a novel approach: to scale-up the MRI magnetic forces by using the MRI magnetic field to generate agglomerations of the aerosolized liposomal agents (or agglomerations of aerosol droplets). The formation of agglomerations increases the magnetic volume and thus increases the magnetic forces. Furthermore the paper presents a dynamic simulation platform, developed by the authors, to assess the feasibility of the concept and to investigate ways to control the size geometry and break-up rate of the agglomerations. The dynamic models of this computational tool are described in detail. The simulation results predict aggregation patterns, whose size and orientation can be controlled by external magnetic fields.