Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Living matter expresses electromagnetism. And not only that. Some organisms
can detect magnetic fi elds. This phenomenon is known as
magnetoception
[
2
].
Fields naturally produced by an organism are known as
biomagnetism
[
2
]. Some
bacteria have magnets of nanoparticle's size in their bodies (
magneto-bacteria
) [
2
].
Some birds have miniature magnets in their retina and can “see” where to fl y.
Meanwhile, scientists like David Cohen have established the approach for measure-
ment of the magnetic fi eld of humans in shielded rooms with a superconducting
magnetometer [
2
]. A SQUID (for superconducting quantum interference device) is
a very sensitive magnetometer used to measure extremely subtle magnetic fi elds,
based on superconducting loops containing Josephson junctions [
2
,
6
-
8
]. SQUIDs
are sensitive enough to measure fi elds as low as 5 aT (5×10
−18
T) within a few days
of averaged measurements [
2
].
No wonder that one of strong impacts of magnetism upon bioengineering is in
biomedical engineering. There is the entire fi eld of studies known as
magneto-
biology
which involves new studies and concepts of magnetic fi elds produced in, or
applied to biological systems as a
diagnostic approach
or a
medical treatment
, for
example. Despite a lot of controversies this fi eld is progressing in development and
methodological evolution and seems to be a potential source of knew understanding
and knowledge that can benefi t to human health and well-being.
Currently, a very interesting from bioengineering point of view, are
magnetic
labeling of stem cells
[
3
] and the
new concept of cancer stem cell therapy using
principles of magnetism
[
4
].
In Vivo Imaging of Intravascularly Injected Magnetically
Labeled Stem Cells
One of the most interesting and signifi cant innovations from biomedical engineering
is for sure tracking through In vivo Imaging of Intravascularly Injected Magnetically
Labeled Stem Cells of different origin (Mesenchymal stem cells, Human Neural
stem cells, Embryonic stem cells). It has been shown that various, synthesized
magnetic particles can serve for tracking stem cells into damaged tissues (brain,
heart, etc.) and their engraftment in those tissues, which is a very promising tool in
cellular treatment of the diseases such as stroke, acute myocardial infarction (AMI),
and probably many others [
8
-
20
].
Possibilities of Engineering Targeted Cancer Stem
Cell Therapy Using Principles of Magnetism
The ultimate goal of cancer therapy lies in a few key ideas: (1) create as little side-
effect of the treatment to the host's tissues, (2) treat as non-invasively as possible, and (3)
have long-term viability of treatment as stem cells vary in their genotypic expression.
