Magnetic targeting is a promising therapeutic strategy for localizing systemically delivered magnetic responsive drugs or cells to target tissue, but excessive aggregation of magnetic particles could result in vascular embolization. To analyze the reason for embolization, the attractive process of magnetic particles in magnetic field (MF) was studied in this paper by analyzing the form of the aggregated paramagnetic particles while the particle suspension flowed through a tube, which served as a model of blood vessels. The effects of magnetic flux density and fluid velocity on the formation of aggregated paramagnetic particles were investigated. The number of large aggregated clusters dramatically increased with increment in the magnetic flux density and decreased with increment in the fluid velocity. The analysis of accumulative process demonstrates the MF around initially attracted particles was focused, which induced the formation of clusters and increased the possibility of embolism. Bioelectromagnetics. 37:323-330, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Keywords: aggregative clusters; capture efficiency; finite-element analysis; hydrodynamic drag force; vascular embolization.
© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.