Browsing by Author "Gomez-Pastora, Jenifer (TTU)"
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Item Continuous-Flow Magnetic Fractionation of Red Blood Cells Based on Hemoglobin Content and Oxygen Saturation— Clinical Blood Supply Implications and Sickle Cell Anemia Treatment(2022) Weigand, Mitchell; Gomez-Pastora, Jenifer (TTU); Palmer, Andre; Zborowski, Maciej; Desai, Payal; Chalmers, JeffreyApproximately 36,000 units of red blood cells (RBCs) are used every day in the U.S. and there is a great challenge for hospitals to maintain a reliable supply, given the 42-day expiration period from the blood donation date. For many years, research has been conducted to develop ex vivo storage solutions that limit RBC lysis and maintain a high survival rate of the transfused cells. However, little attention is directed towards potential fractionation methods to remove unwanted cell debris or aged blood cells from stored RBC units prior to transfusion, which could not only expand the ex vivo shelf life of RBC units but also avoid adverse events in transfused patients. Such fractionation methods could also limit the number of transfusions required for treating certain pathologies, such as sickle cell disease (SCD). In this work, magnetic fractionation is studied as a potential technology to fractionate functional and healthy RBCs from aged or sickle cells. It has been reported that during ex vivo RBC storage, RBCs lose hemoglobin (Hb) and lipid content via formation of Hb-containing exosomes. Given the magnetic character of deoxygenated-or met-Hb, in this work, we propose the use of a quadrupole magnetic sorter (QMS) to fractionate RBCs based on their Hb content from both healthy stored blood and SCD blood. In our QMS, a cylindrical microchannel placed inside the center of the quadrupolar magnets is subjected to high magnetic fields and constant field gradients (286 T/m), which causes the deflection of the paramagnetic, Hb-enriched, and functional RBCs from their original path and their collection into a different outlet. Our results demonstrated that although we could obtain a significant difference in the magnetic mobility of the sorted fractions (corresponding to a difference in more than 1 pg of Hb per cell), there exists a tradeoff between throughput and purity. Therefore, this technology when optimized could be used to expand the ex vivo shelf life of RBC units and avoid adverse events in transfused individuals or SCD patients requiring blood exchange therapy.Item Kinetic and Parametric Analysis of the Separation of Ultra-Small, Aqueous Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticle Suspensions under Quadrupole Magnetic Fields(2023) Ciannella, Stefano (TTU); Wu, Xian; González-Fernández, Cristina (TTU); Rezaei, Bahareh; Strayer, Jacob; Choe, Hyeon; Wu, Kai; Chalmers, Jeffrey; Gomez-Pastora, Jenifer (TTU)Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have gathered tremendous scientific interest, especially in the biomedical field, for multiple applications, including bioseparation, drug delivery, etc. Nevertheless, their manipulation and separation with magnetic fields are challenging due to their small size. We recently reported the coupling of cooperative magnetophoresis and sedimentation using quadrupole magnets as a promising strategy to successfully promote SPION recovery from media. However, previous studies involved SPIONs dispersed in organic solvents (non-biocompatible) at high concentrations, which is detrimental to the process economy. In this work, we investigate, for the first time, the magnetic separation of 20 nm and 30 nm SPIONs dispersed in an aqueous medium at relatively low concentrations (as low as 0.5 g·L−1) using our custom, permanent magnet-based quadrupole magnetic sorter (QMS). By monitoring the SPION concentrations along the vessel within the QMS, we estimated the influence of several variables in the separation and analyzed the kinetics of the process. The results obtained can be used to shed light on the dynamics and interplay of variables that govern the fast separation of SPIONs using inexpensive permanent magnets.Item SPIONs Magnetophoresis and Separation via Permanent Magnets: Biomedical and Environmental Applications(2023) Wu, Xian; Ciannella, Stefano (TTU); Choe, Hyeon; Strayer, Jacob; Wu, Kai; Chalmers, Jeffrey; Gomez-Pastora, Jenifer (TTU)Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have emerged as cutting-edge materials, garnering increasing attention in recent years within the fields of chemical and biomedical engineering. This increasing interest is primarily attributed to the distinctive chemical and physical properties of SPIONs. Progress in nanotechnology and particle synthesis methodologies has facilitated the fabrication of SPIONs with precise control over parameters such as composition, size, shape, stability, and magnetic response. Notably, these functionalized materials exhibit a remarkable surface-area-to-volume ratio, biocompatibility, and, most importantly, they can be effectively manipulated using external magnetic fields. Due to these exceptional properties, SPIONs have found widespread utility in the medical field for targeted drug delivery and cell separation, as well as in the chemical engineering field, particularly in wastewater treatment. Magnetic separation techniques driven by magnetophoresis have proven to be highly efficient, encompassing both high-gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) and low-gradient magnetic separation (LGMS). This review aims to provide an in-depth exploration of magnetic field gradient separation techniques, alongside a comprehensive discussion of the applications of SPIONs in the context of drug delivery, cell separation, and environmental remediation.