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. This project proposes a method for targeted drug delivery by applying high magnetic field gradients within the body to an injected superparamagnetic colloidal fluid carrying a drug, with the aid of modest uniform magnetic field. The design involves patterning of endovascular implants, such as coronary stents, with soft magnetic coatings capable of applying high local magnetic field gradients within the body.

Examination of the feasibility of the design has been focused around the treatment of coronary restenosis following angioplasty. Drug-eluting stents, which have debuted in hospitals over the past two years, have thus far reduced restenosis rates to below 10%. Our local drug delivery system is a viable alternative or enhancement to drug-eluting stents, offering increased clinician control of dose size, the ability to treat a site repeatedly, and a wide array of applications for treatment of other pathologies. The theoretical models, parallel plate and pipe flow analysis, and cell culture models presented give insight into the use of micron and sub-micron scale magnetic particles for site-specific delivery of pharmaceuticals and magnetically labeled cells.