Multifunctional Magnetic and Thermally Sensitive Hydrogels for Drug Delivery

Incorporating nanomagnets into thermally responsive hydrogels creates a novel cancer therapy platform; this platform is suitable for both chemotherapy and hyperthermia applications. By including FePt nanomagnets in the hydrogels, a system is created that could deliver a localized dosage of anti-cancer therapies while a patient is undergoing hyperthermia treatment. The combination of therapies has the potential to increase efficacy of cancer treatment, as well as reduce the negative side effects of such treatments.

To achieve even heating in an A/C magnetic field, a uniform dispersion of FePt nanomagnets inside a hydrogel is required. The agglomeration size of nanomagnets within the gels was found to be related to the dispersion concentration. Drug delivery studies were completed to determine the effect of temperature and FePt concentration on drug diffusion coefficients. A model drug, theophylline, was released from temperature sensitive poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide-co-acrylamide) (P(NIPAAm-co-AAm)) hydrogels. Results indicate that temperature has the expected effect on the drug diffusion coefficient, while the FePt concentration inside the gels did not hinder the release behavior.