Ferrogels ultrasonography for biomedical applications

Ferrogels (FG) are magnetic composites that are widely used in the area of biomedical engineering and biosensing. In this work, ferrogels with different concentrations of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were synthesized by the radical polymerization of acrylamide in stabilized aqueous ferrofluid. FG samples were prepared in various shapes that are suitable for different characterization techniques. Thin cylindrical samples were used to simulate the case of targeted drug delivery test through blood vessels. Samples of larger size that were in the shape of cylindrical plates were used for the evaluation of the FG applicability as substitutes for damaged structures, such as bone or cartilage tissues. Regardless of the shape of the samples and the conditions of their location, the boundaries of FG were confidently visualized over the entire range of concentrations of MNPs while using medical ultrasound. The amplitude of the reflected echo signal was higher for the higher concentration of MNPs in the gel. This result was not related to the influence of the MNPs on the intensity of the reflected echo signal directly, since the wavelength of the ultrasonic effect used is much larger than the particle size. Qualitative theoretical model for the understanding of the experimental results was proposed while taking into account the concept that at the acoustic oscillations of the hydrogel, the macromolecular net, and water in the gel porous structure experience the viscous Stocks-like interaction. © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.18-19-00090Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Minobrnauka: 3.1438.2017/46Funding: The Russian Scientific Foundation (grant 18-19-00090) supported the experimental parts of this study, including the design, performance and analysis of experiments.Acknowledgments: A.Yu. Zubarev thanks the program of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (project 3.1438.2017/46) for the support of his mathematical studies. We thank K.R. Mekhdieva, P.A. Shabadrov, V.Ya. Krokhalev, I.V. Beketov and A.M. Murzakaev for special support

Design magnetic matrices for cell technology supporting devices

Biomedical applications of magnetic materials are a hot topic of present day research. Special attention is paid for design and development of appropriate instrumentation. In this work magnetic system consisting of an equidistant set of commercial permanent magnets (6 × 4 assay) was proposed, designed and tested for further employment in the experiments in cell cultivation experiments. Magnetic field distribution was experimentally measured in 3 axes: OX, OY, OZ by gaussmeter. The results were statistically analyzed. Constant magnetic field near the center of XY plane was relatively homogeneous but at edges significant value of magnetic field gradient was observed. With increasing of Z distance, the decreasing of magnetic field strength was observed. Obtained parameters of a designed system are satisfactory and therefore it can be recommended for cell cultivation experiments when application of external magnetic field is desired. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.Russian Science Foundation, RSF: 18-19-00090This research was funded by the Russian Science Foundation, grant number 18-19-00090

Mechanical Force Acting on Ferrogel in a Non-Uniform Magnetic Field: Measurements and Modeling

The development of magnetoactive microsystems for targeted drug delivery, magnetic biodetection, and replacement therapy is an important task of present day biomedical research. In this work, we experimentally studied the mechanical force acting in cylindrical ferrogel samples due to the application of a non-uniform magnetic field. A commercial microsystem is not available for this type of experimental study. Therefore, the original experimental setup for measuring the mechanical force on ferrogel in a non-uniform magnetic field was designed, calibrated, and tested. An external magnetic field was provided by an electromagnet. The maximum intensity at the surface of the electromagnet was 39.8 kA/m and it linearly decreased within 10 mm distance from the magnet. The Ferrogel samples were based on a double networking polymeric structure which included a chemical network of polyacrylamide and a physical network of natural polysaccharide guar. Magnetite particles, 0.25 micron in diameter, were embedded in the hydrogel structure, up to 24% by weight. The forces of attraction between an electromagnet and cylindrical ferrogel samples, 9 mm in height and 13 mm in diameter, increased with field intensity and the concentration of magnetic particles, and varied within 0.1–30 mN. The model provided a fair evaluation of the mechanical forces that emerged in ferrogel samples placed in a non-uniform magnetic field and proved to be useful for predicting the deformation of ferrogels in practical bioengineering applications. © 2022 by the authors.Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Minobrnauka: FEUZ-2020-0051; Russian Science Foundation, RSF: 20-12-00031; Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation: 121032300335-1This study was in part supported by the program of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation (project 121032300335-1). A.Yu. Zubarev and A.P. Safronov acknowledge the financial support of the Russian Science Foundation for theoretical modeling and the numerical verification of the model (grant 20-12-00031). This work was in part financially supported by (G.V. Kurlyandskaya and G.Yu. Melnikov) the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (grant number FEUZ-2020-0051)

Hydrogels Based on Polyacrylamide and Calcium Alginate: Thermodynamic Compatibility of Interpenetrating Networks, Mechanical, and Electrical Properties

The synthesis and physicochemical properties of hydrogels with interpenetrated physical and chemical networks were considered in relation to their prospective application as biomimetic materials in biomedicine and bioengineering. The study was focused on combined hydrogels based on natural polysaccharide—calcium alginate (CaAlg) and a synthetic polymer–polyacrylamide (PAAm). The series of hydrogels with varying proportions among alginate and polyacrylamide have been synthesized, and their water uptake has been characterized depending on their composition. The equilibrium swelling and re-swelling in water after drying were considered. The compatibility of alginate and polyacrylamide in the combined blend was studied by the thermodynamic approach. It showed a controversial combination of negative enthalpy of mixing among PAAm and CaAlg with positive Gibbs energy of mixing. Mechanical and electrical properties of the combined gels with double networking were studied as relevant for their prospective use as scaffolds for tissue regeneration and working bodies in actuators. The storage modulus and the loss modulus were determined in the oscillatory compression mode as a function of proportions among natural and synthetic polymers. Both moduli substantially increased with the content of CaAlg and PAAm. The electrical (Donnan) potential of hydrogels was measured using the capillary electrode technique. The Donnan potential was negative at all compositions of hydrogels, and its absolute values increased with the content of CaAlg and PAAm. © 2023 by the authors.Russian Science Foundation, RSF: 20-12-00031; Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation: 121032300335-1The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (grant 20-12-00031). The mechanical and electrical measurements on gels were funded under the program of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation (project 121032300335-1)

The Contribution of Magnetic Nanoparticles to Ferrogel Biophysical Properties

Iron oxide gamma-Fe(2)O(3 )magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were fabricated by laser target evaporation technique (LTE) and their structure and magnetic properties were studied. Polyacrylamide (PAAm) gels with different cross-linking density of the polymer network and polyacrylamide-based ferrogel with embedded LTE MNPs (0.34 wt.%) were synthesized. Their adhesive and proliferative potential with respect to human dermal fibroblasts were studied. At the same value of Young modulus, the adhesive and proliferative activities of the human dermal fibroblasts on the surface of ferrogel were unexpectedly much higher in comparison with the surface of PAAm gel. Properties of PAAm-100 + gamma-Fe2O3 MNPs composites were discussed with focus on creation of a new generation of drug delivery systems combined in multifunctional devices, including magnetic field assisted delivery, positioning, and biosensing. Although exact applications are still under development, the obtained results show a high potential of LTE MNPs to be applied for cellular technologies and tissue engineering. PAAm-100 ferrogel with very low concentration of gamma-Fe2O3 MNPs results in significant improvement of the cells' compatibility to the gel-based scaffold

Biological Impact of γ-Fe2O3 Magnetic Nanoparticles Obtained by Laser Target Evaporation: Focus on Magnetic Biosensor Applications

The biological activity of γ-Fe2O3 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), obtained by the laser target evaporation technique, was studied, with a focus on their possible use in biosensor applications. The biological effect of the MNPs was investigated in vitro on the primary cultures of human dermal fibroblasts. The effects of the MNPs contained in culture medium or MNPs already uptaken by cells were evaluated for the cases of the fibroblast’s proliferation and secretion of cytokines and collagen. For the tests related to the contribution of the constant magnetic field to the biological activity of MNPs, a magnetic system for the creation of the external magnetic field (having no commercial analogues) was designed, calibrated, and used. It was adapted to the size of standard 24-well cell culture plates. At low concentrations of MNPs, uptake by fibroblasts had stimulated their proliferation. Extracellular MNPs stimulated the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines (Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and Interleukin-8 (IL-8) or chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 8 (CXCL8)) in a concentration-dependent manner. However, the presence of MNPs did not increase the collagen secretion. The exposure to the uniform constant magnetic field (H ≈ 630 or 320 Oe), oriented in the plane of the well, did not cause considerable changes in fibroblasts proliferation and secretion, regardless of presence of MNPs. Statistically significant differences were detected only in the levels of IL-8/CXCL8 release. © 2022 by the authors.IT1245-19; Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation: FEUZ-2020-0051; Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation: 121032300335-1The study was supported by the program of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation (project 121032300335-1). This work was financially supported, in part, by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the RF (grant FEUZ-2020-0051) (G.Yu. Melnikov) and University of the Basque Country Research Groups Funding (grant IT1245-19) (G.V. Kurlyandskaya)

Modeling of rheological characteristics of blood in coronary artery with stenosis

The aim of the study — to demonstrate the essential influence of rheological processes in the blood on the flow characteristics in arteries with stenosis.Цель исследования — оценить влияние реологических процессов в крови на характеристики ее течения в артерии со стенозом

Pseudorapidity distributions of charged particles from Au+Au collisions at the maximum RHIC energy, Sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV

We present charged particle densities as a function of pseudorapidity and collision centrality for the 197Au+197Au reaction at Sqrt{s_NN}=200 GeV. For the 5% most central events we obtain dN_ch/deta(eta=0) = 625 +/- 55 and N_ch(-4.7<= eta <= 4.7) = 4630+-370, i.e. 14% and 21% increases, respectively, relative to Sqrt{s_NN}=130 GeV collisions. Charged-particle production per pair of participant nucleons is found to increase from peripheral to central collisions around mid-rapidity. These results constrain current models of particle production at the highest RHIC energy.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures; fixed fig. 5 caption; revised text and figures to show corrected calculation of and ; final version accepted for publicatio