Guided self-assembly of magnetic beads for biomedical applications

Micromagnetic beads are widely used in biomedical applications for cell separation, drug delivery, and hyperthermia cancer treatment. Here we propose to use self-organized magnetic bead structures which accumulate on fixed magnetic seeding points to isolate circulating tumor cells. The analysis of circulating tumor cells is an emerging tool for cancer biology research and clinical cancer management including the detection, diagnosis and monitoring of cancer. Microfluidic chips for isolating circulating tumor cells use either affinity, size or density capturing methods. We combine multiphysics simulation techniques to understand the microscopic behavior of magnetic beads interacting with soft magnetic accumulation points used in lab-on-chip technologies. Our proposed chip technology offers the possibility to combine affinity and size capturing with special antibody-coated bead arrangements using a magnetic gradient field created by Neodymium Iron Boron permanent magnets. The multiscale simulation environment combines magnetic field computation, fluid dynamics and discrete particle dynamics.