Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 25, 2026

Delivery of Antibodies into the Murine Brain via Convection-enhanced Delivery
Published on: July 18, 2019
Synthetic and living micropropellers for convection-enhanced nanoparticle transport
S Schuerle1, A P Soleimany2,3, T Yeh3
1Institute for Translational Medicine, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Nanoparticles (NPs) have emerged as an advantageous drug delivery platform for the treatment of various ailments including cancer and cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. However, their efficacy in shuttling materials to diseased tissue is hampered by a number of physiological barriers. One hurdle is transport out of the blood vessels, compounded by difficulties in subsequent penetration into the target tissue. Here, we report the use of two distinct micropropellers powered by rotating magnetic fields to increase diffusion-limited NP transport by enhancing local fluid convection. In the first approach, we used a single synthetic magnetic microrobot called an artificial bacterial flagellum (ABF), and in the second approach, we used swarms of magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) to create a directable "living ferrofluid" by exploiting ferrohydrodynamics. Both approaches enhance NP transport in a microfluidic model of blood extravasation and tissue penetration that consists of microchannels bordered by a collagen matrix.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Facilitated Transport
Synthetic Biology
Golden rice
Golden rice is a genetically modified...
Primary Active Transport
Secondary Active Transport
Conduction, Convection and Radiation: Problem Solving
In order to solve a problem related to heat transfer, first of all, the situation needs to be examined to determine the type of heat transfer involved. This could...
Regulated mRNA Transport

