Simulation of magnetic drug targeting for a branched artery-model with non-Newtonian flow behaviour of blood

K. Gitter - S. Odenbach

TU Dresden, Chair of Magnetofluiddynamics, Measuring and Automation Technology, 01062 Dresden, Germany

Abstract
The high targeting efficiency of magnetic drug targeting confirms it as a promising technique for tumour treatment. Since drug-loaded nanoparticles are concentrated within a target region due to the influence of a magnetic field, unwanted side effects are considerably reduced. In previous works, experiments with a half-Y-branched glass tube model as a model-system for a blood vessel supplying a tumour were performed. The results of those systematic quantitative measurements were summarized in novel drug-targeting maps. Based on the considered setup and artery-model, the current focus is a theoretical approach with a finite-element simulation of the flow behaviour within the artery-model. The media, into which the nanoparticles are injected, are modeled first as Newtonian fluid and further with a shear-thinning viscosity model that is closer to the real flow behaviour of blood. Figs 4, Refs 13.