Magnetic nanoparticle drug targeting to patient-specific atherosclerosis: effects of magnetic field intensity and configuration

Nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery is recognized as a promising option for targeted treatment of atherosclerosis. In this paper, the Eulerian-Lagrangian technique is adopted to simulate the delivery of drug-loaded nanoparticles to patient-specific atherosclerotic plaque with the aid of an external magnetic field. Plaques and vascular walls are introduced as porous media formulated by the Darcy-Forchheimer model in this targeted transport process. The results demonstrate that the delivery efficiency of particles to atherosclerosis depends on the external magnetic field, such as configuration and intensity, in which the configuration angle of the current wire is a key factor and the double current wires have advantages over the single current wire. Meanwhile, the delivery efficiency gradually decreases as the distance between the plaque cap and the current wire increases. Further, although augmenting the current or magnetic susceptibility can generally improve the delivery efficiency of nanoparticles, this increase is not apparent when small-sized nanoparticles are employed as drug transport particles. The results obtained can potentially serve as the guideline to optimize regimens for the targeted therapy of atherosclerosis.