Stroke treatment enhanced by magnetised nanoparticles

The only drug currently approved for the treatment of acute stroke - recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) - is administered intravenously to patients after the first symptoms of ischemic stroke appear. The protein in the drug dissolves blood clots that cause strokes and other cardiovascular problems, such as pulmonary embolisms and heart attacks.

‘Our technology uses magnetic nanorods that, when injected into the bloodstream and activated with rotating magnets, act like stirring bars to drive t-PA to the site of the clot,’ said Yiping Zhao, co-author of a paper describing the results in ACS Nano and professor of physics in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. ‘Our preliminary results show that the breakdown of clots can be enhanced up to twofold compared to treatment with t-PA alone.’

By collaborating with their medical partners, the researchers tested their approach in mice that mimic blood clots in humans. Once a clot was formed, they injected a mixture of t-PA and a small number of magnetic nanorods measuring 300nm in diameter.