Magnetic filtration: a new weapon

MedicalDevice-Network (Sept. 17, 2012)

The use of magnetic filtration has the potential to transform the treatment of metastatic cancers. Kenneth E Scarberry and John F McDonald of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, US, explain how an ancient method of purging the human body of impurities could provide the inspiration for future research into the removal of malignant cells.

Magnetic filtration has been actively applied in industrial processing, food processing and wastewater management strategies over several decades as a means of eliminating magnetic impurities.
Removing impurities from bodily fluids is a concept that pre-dates the ancient practice of bloodletting, which evolved into the science of haemofiltration in the 1800s. The recent advent of nanoscience enabled a synergistic approach to purging the human body of contaminants by first selectively magnetising them using magnetic nanomaterials, and then removing them using magnetic filtration and the fluid management principles integral to technologies like haemofiltration and peritoneal dialysis. (full story..)