Consequences of Sheep Blood Used as Diluting Agent for the Magnetoviscous Effect in Biocompatible Ferrofluids

Magnetic nanoparticles suspended in suitable carrier liquids can be adopted for use in biomedicine. For this to be achieved, the biocompatibility of these ferrofluids needs to be ascertained. In cancer treatment, potential applications currently under investigation include, e. g. drug targeting by using magnetic fields and the destruction of diseased cells by applying alternating magnetic fields, which cause heating of magnetic nanoparticles. To enable the use of ferrofluids in the actual biomedical context, detailed knowledge of the flow characteristics is essential to ensure safe treatment. From ferrofluids used in the engineering context, a rise of viscosity when a magnetic field is applied – the magnetoviscous effect – is well known. This effect, which leads to an increased viscosity and profound alteration of a fluid’s rheological behavior, has also been demonstrated for biocompatible ferrofluids used in the aforementioned applications. In biomedical applications, ferrofluids will be diluted in the blood stream. Therefore, the interaction between whole blood and the ferrofluid has to be investigated. This is the focus of the current experimental study, which makes use of two different ferrofluids diluted in sheep blood to gain a deeper understanding of the fluid mixtures primarily regarding the relative change in viscosity if an external magnetic field is applied. The results demonstrate a strong interaction between blood cells and structures formed by the magnetic nanoparticles and show a high deviation of results compared to ferrofluids diluted in water. These findings have to be taken into account for future research and applications of similar biocompatible fluids to guarantee safe and effective use in living organisms.