Drug Targeting and other Recent Applications of Magnetic Carriers in Therapeutics

Abstract

. Aqueous suspensions containing small magnetic particles have been increasingly used in biosciences and biotechnology. Magnetic particles develop magnetic polarization and magnetophoretic mobility, and because of such unique properties, these carriers may be eligible candidates for delivering drugs to specific sites within the body. Their special properties also allow other uses, such as those in embolization, radioisotope delivery, magnetic cell tracking for monitoring cell therapy, magnetofection, and hyperthermia. This review focuses on a discussion about magnetic particles, the properties and fate of magnetic carriers, the methods used to produce and characterize them, and their other uses in biotechnology.