biomedical application is MDT, which employs magnetic nanoparticles that are coupled to the radio frequency of the MRI. This coupling converts the radio frequency into heat energy that kills the cancer cells. European researchers studying MDT have shown that nanoparticles are able to target tumor cells. Carpenter said that because the nanoparticles target tumor cells and are substantially smaller than human cells, only the very few tumor cells next to the nanoparticles are killed, which greatly minimizes damage to healthy cells.

"Our goal is to tailor the properties of the nanoparticles to make the use of MDT more universal," said Carpenter. "The only thing slowing down the development of enhanced ferrites for 100 megahertz applications is a lack of understanding of the growth mechanisms and synthesis-property relationships of these nanoparticles.

"By studying the mechanism for the growth of the enhanced ferrites, it will be possible to create shells that help protect the metallic core from oxidation in biologically capable media," he said.

Enhanced ferrites are a class of ferrites that are specially engineered to have enhanced magnetic or electrical properties and are created through the use of core-shell morphology. He said that in this approach the core can be a highly magnetic material like iron or iron alloys, while the shell can be a mixed metal ferrite with tailored resistivity.

"Ferrites (iron oxides) are used in many applications that require both a high magnetization and high electrical resistance; properties which are typically mutually exclusive," said Carpenter. "These two properties are tied not only to the structure of the material but also to the way in which the material is synthesized and processed."

Today, polymer encapsulated iron oxide particles are used in biomedical applications. However, Carpenter said that the high magnetization of the enhanced ferrite nanoparticles may potentially improve the abs
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Contact: Sathya Achia-Abraham
sbachia@vcu.edu
804-827-0890
Virginia Commonwealth University
29-Aug-2005

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