Dra. Jenifer Gómez Pastora

Department of Chemical Engineering
Texas Tech University, USA

“Biomedical applications of particle and cell magnetophoresis”

The use of magnetic materials has increased exponentially in the last few decades across various fields, particularly in biomedicine. Indeed, magnetic cell separation plays an important role and has been extensively utilized in cell biology research and clinical laboratory applications. Typically, the magnetic force acting on the cells is amplified by the chemical attachment of iron oxide nanoparticles to the cell surface (i.e., labeled approach). This creates opportunities for rapid and economical cell separation based on the affinity of the magnetic nanoparticles to various molecular cell targets, such as clusters of differentiation. Additionally, iron is one of the most abundant elements in the universe and an essential trace element for nearly all forms of life. Its presence in cells and proteins allows for the use of label-free magnetic bioseparations. In this seminar, several magnetically driven lab-on-a-chip devices are presented, and the advantages of magnetic techniques are demonstrated in comparison to other technologies for cell separation and analysis. Particularly, the magnetic devices presented here can be integrated into novel treatment methods for various diseases and be employed for the development of new diagnostic platforms. Finally, we will introduce novel theoretical approaches and several design guidelines to advance these technologies, further facilitating their future establishment.