A di-electrophoretic simulation procedure of iron-oxide micro-particle drug attachment system for leukemia treatment using COMSOL software: a potential treatment reference for LMICs

Henry Fenekansi Kiwumulo; Haruna Muwonge; Charles Ibingira; Michael Lubwama; John Baptist Kirabira; Robert Tamale Ssekitoleko

doi:10.3389/fmedt.2023.1250964

A di-electrophoretic simulation procedure of iron-oxide micro-particle drug attachment system for leukemia treatment using COMSOL software: a potential treatment reference for LMICs

Front Med Technol. 2023 Oct 12:5:1250964. doi: 10.3389/fmedt.2023.1250964. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Henry Fenekansi Kiwumulo¹, Haruna Muwonge^{1

2}, Charles Ibingira³, Michael Lubwama⁴, John Baptist Kirabira⁴, Robert Tamale Ssekitoleko¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Physiology, Biomedical Engineering Program, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
² Habib Medical School, Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU), Kampala, Uganda.
³ Department of Human Anatomy, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

Abstract

Background: Leukemia encompasses various subtypes, each with unique characteristics and treatment approaches. The challenge lies in developing targeted therapies that can effectively address the specific genetic mutations or abnormalities associated with each subtype. Some leukemia cases may become resistant to existing treatments over time making them less susceptible to chemotherapy or other standard therapies.

Objective: Developing new treatment strategies to overcome resistance is an ongoing challenge particularly in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). Computational studies using COMSOL software could provide an economical, fast and resourceful approach to the treatment of complicated cancers like leukemia.

Methods: Using COMSOL Multiphysics software, a continuous flow microfluidic device capable of delivering anti-leukemia drugs to early-stage leukemia cells has been computationally modeled using dielectrophoresis (DEP).

Results: The cell size difference enabled the micro-particle drug attachment to the leukemia cells using hydrodynamic focusing from the dielectrophoretic force. This point of care application produced a low voltage from numerically calculated electrical field and flow speed simulations.

Conclusion: Therefore, such a dielectrophoretic low voltage application model can be used as a computational treatment reference for early-stage leukemia cells with an approximate size of 5 μm.

Keywords: COMSOL; dielectrophoresis; iron-oxide micro-particle; leukemia; modeling and simulation; peak-to-peak voltage.

Grants and funding

We are grateful to the African Centre of Excellence in Materials, Product Development and Nanotechnology (MAPRONANO ACE) under Makerere University for funding this work. We are additionally grateful to the Ugandan Government through Makerere Research and Innovation Fund (MakRIF) for their kind contribution towards this work.