In Silico Experiments to Explore the Heating Efficiency of Magnetic Nanoparticles in Hyperthermia Preclinical Tests

Abstract

Preclinical tests on murine models are typically performed to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of novel magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) in cancer treatment with magnetic hyperthermia. Here, through in silico experiments, in vivo tests are mimicked on a 30 g mouse and a 500 g rat, with the aim of determining the optimal treatment conditions allowing to reach the therapeutic temperature range (40−45 °C) within tumor regions. Various types of MNPs are considered with very different heating properties in terms of specific loss power, varying their administered dose, as well as the frequency and peak amplitude of the magnetic field. The analysis is performed by means of finite element models that solve the low-frequency electromagnetic (EM) field problem and the Pennes’ bioheat transfer equation, to calculate the temperature increase in biological tissues due to the combined effects of EM field exposure and MNP activation. The methodology, which can be generalized to any type of MNPs, has permitted to identify the proper doses of MNPs to be administered to the tumor region, as a function of their heating properties and magnetic field parameters, highlighting the conditions that can lead to possible overheating, generation of hot spots or magnetic hyperthermia inefficacy.