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Photo from Jacobs School
of Engineering/UC San Diego
Engineers have developed a chip that uses an oscillating electric field to isolate drug-delivery nanoparticles from blood.
They say the device isolated nanoparticles from plasma quickly and easily, without the need to modify the plasma samples or the nanoparticles.
The group believes this technique could be used to separate and recover nanoparticles from other complex fluids for medical, environmental, and industrial applications.
They described the technique in the journal Small.
Previously, nanoparticles proved difficult to separate from plasma due to their small size and low density.
Traditional methods to remove nanoparticles from plasma samples typically involve diluting the plasma, adding a high-concentration sugar solution to the plasma and spinning it in a centrifuge, or attaching a targeting agent to the surface of the nanoparticles.
These methods either alter the normal behavior of the nanoparticles or cannot be applied to some of the most common nanoparticle types.
“This is the first example of isolating a wide range of nanoparticles out of plasma with a minimum amount of manipulation,” said study author Stuart Ibsen, PhD, of the University of California, San Diego.
“We’ve designed a very versatile technique that can be used to recover nanoparticles in a lot of different processes.”
The device used to isolate the drug-delivery nanoparticles was a dime-sized electric chip manufactured by La Jolla-based Biological Dynamics, which licensed the original technology from the University of California, San Diego.
The chip contains hundreds of tiny electrodes that generate a rapidly oscillating electric field that selectively pulls the nanoparticles out of a plasma sample.
The researchers inserted a drop of plasma spiked with nanoparticles into the electric chip and demonstrated nanoparticle recovery within 7 minutes. The technology worked on different types of drug-delivery nanoparticles that are typically studied in various labs.
The researchers said the breakthrough in the technology relies on designing a chip that can work in the high-salt concentration of plasma. The chip’s ability to pull the nanoparticles out of plasma is based on differences in the material properties between the nanoparticles and plasma components.
When the chip’s electrodes apply an oscillating electric field, the positive and negative charges inside the nanoparticles reorient themselves at a different speed than the charges in the surrounding plasma. This momentary imbalance in the charges creates an attractive force between the nanoparticles and the electrodes.
As the electric field oscillates, the nanoparticles are continually pulled toward the electrodes, leaving the rest of the plasma behind. In addition, the electric field is designed to oscillate at just the right frequency: 15,000 times per second.
“It’s amazing that this method works without any modifications to the plasma samples or to the nanoparticles,” Dr Ibsen said.
He and his colleagues believe this technology will enable researchers to better monitor what happens to nanoparticles circulating in a patient’s bloodstream. Researchers could also use this technology in the clinic to determine if the blood chemistry of a particular patient is compatible with the surfaces of certain drug-delivery nanoparticles. 
Photo from Jacobs School
of Engineering/UC San Diego
Engineers have developed a chip that uses an oscillating electric field to isolate drug-delivery nanoparticles from blood.
They say the device isolated nanoparticles from plasma quickly and easily, without the need to modify the plasma samples or the nanoparticles.
The group believes this technique could be used to separate and recover nanoparticles from other complex fluids for medical, environmental, and industrial applications.
They described the technique in the journal Small.
Previously, nanoparticles proved difficult to separate from plasma due to their small size and low density.
Traditional methods to remove nanoparticles from plasma samples typically involve diluting the plasma, adding a high-concentration sugar solution to the plasma and spinning it in a centrifuge, or attaching a targeting agent to the surface of the nanoparticles.
These methods either alter the normal behavior of the nanoparticles or cannot be applied to some of the most common nanoparticle types.
“This is the first example of isolating a wide range of nanoparticles out of plasma with a minimum amount of manipulation,” said study author Stuart Ibsen, PhD, of the University of California, San Diego.
“We’ve designed a very versatile technique that can be used to recover nanoparticles in a lot of different processes.”
The device used to isolate the drug-delivery nanoparticles was a dime-sized electric chip manufactured by La Jolla-based Biological Dynamics, which licensed the original technology from the University of California, San Diego.
The chip contains hundreds of tiny electrodes that generate a rapidly oscillating electric field that selectively pulls the nanoparticles out of a plasma sample.
The researchers inserted a drop of plasma spiked with nanoparticles into the electric chip and demonstrated nanoparticle recovery within 7 minutes. The technology worked on different types of drug-delivery nanoparticles that are typically studied in various labs.
The researchers said the breakthrough in the technology relies on designing a chip that can work in the high-salt concentration of plasma. The chip’s ability to pull the nanoparticles out of plasma is based on differences in the material properties between the nanoparticles and plasma components.
When the chip’s electrodes apply an oscillating electric field, the positive and negative charges inside the nanoparticles reorient themselves at a different speed than the charges in the surrounding plasma. This momentary imbalance in the charges creates an attractive force between the nanoparticles and the electrodes.
As the electric field oscillates, the nanoparticles are continually pulled toward the electrodes, leaving the rest of the plasma behind. In addition, the electric field is designed to oscillate at just the right frequency: 15,000 times per second.
“It’s amazing that this method works without any modifications to the plasma samples or to the nanoparticles,” Dr Ibsen said.
He and his colleagues believe this technology will enable researchers to better monitor what happens to nanoparticles circulating in a patient’s bloodstream. Researchers could also use this technology in the clinic to determine if the blood chemistry of a particular patient is compatible with the surfaces of certain drug-delivery nanoparticles.
Photo from Jacobs School
of Engineering/UC San Diego
Engineers have developed a chip that uses an oscillating electric field to isolate drug-delivery nanoparticles from blood.
They say the device isolated nanoparticles from plasma quickly and easily, without the need to modify the plasma samples or the nanoparticles.
The group believes this technique could be used to separate and recover nanoparticles from other complex fluids for medical, environmental, and industrial applications.
They described the technique in the journal Small.
Previously, nanoparticles proved difficult to separate from plasma due to their small size and low density.
Traditional methods to remove nanoparticles from plasma samples typically involve diluting the plasma, adding a high-concentration sugar solution to the plasma and spinning it in a centrifuge, or attaching a targeting agent to the surface of the nanoparticles.
These methods either alter the normal behavior of the nanoparticles or cannot be applied to some of the most common nanoparticle types.
“This is the first example of isolating a wide range of nanoparticles out of plasma with a minimum amount of manipulation,” said study author Stuart Ibsen, PhD, of the University of California, San Diego.
“We’ve designed a very versatile technique that can be used to recover nanoparticles in a lot of different processes.”
The device used to isolate the drug-delivery nanoparticles was a dime-sized electric chip manufactured by La Jolla-based Biological Dynamics, which licensed the original technology from the University of California, San Diego.
The chip contains hundreds of tiny electrodes that generate a rapidly oscillating electric field that selectively pulls the nanoparticles out of a plasma sample.
The researchers inserted a drop of plasma spiked with nanoparticles into the electric chip and demonstrated nanoparticle recovery within 7 minutes. The technology worked on different types of drug-delivery nanoparticles that are typically studied in various labs.
The researchers said the breakthrough in the technology relies on designing a chip that can work in the high-salt concentration of plasma. The chip’s ability to pull the nanoparticles out of plasma is based on differences in the material properties between the nanoparticles and plasma components.
When the chip’s electrodes apply an oscillating electric field, the positive and negative charges inside the nanoparticles reorient themselves at a different speed than the charges in the surrounding plasma. This momentary imbalance in the charges creates an attractive force between the nanoparticles and the electrodes.
As the electric field oscillates, the nanoparticles are continually pulled toward the electrodes, leaving the rest of the plasma behind. In addition, the electric field is designed to oscillate at just the right frequency: 15,000 times per second.
“It’s amazing that this method works without any modifications to the plasma samples or to the nanoparticles,” Dr Ibsen said.
He and his colleagues believe this technology will enable researchers to better monitor what happens to nanoparticles circulating in a patient’s bloodstream. Researchers could also use this technology in the clinic to determine if the blood chemistry of a particular patient is compatible with the surfaces of certain drug-delivery nanoparticles.