Thermographical Method to Assess the Performance of Magnetic Nanoparticles in Hyperthermia Experiments through Spatiotemporal Temperature Profiles

Abstract

The evaluation of the specific power absorption of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) for magnetic hyperthermia (MH) applications has been performed through either local temperature probing or magnetic measurements so far. Each of these methods has advantages and drawbacks, and the concurrent use of both techniques offers the most reliable results. In this work, we propose an alternative strategy based on thermographic images to obtain two-dimensional temperature maps that allow the determination of the power absorption and other relevant thermodynamic parameters in MH experiments in a noninvasive way. This procedure and analysis are convenient to determine the heating performance of MNPs under the viscous conditions of in vitro and in vivo assays and to follow the time evolution of the temperature spatial distribution in the sample simultaneously. For this purpose, iron-oxide MNPs with 25-nm average diameter are coated with glucose and dispersed into different 8% polyacrylamide gels, which serve as phantoms that emulate intracellular viscosity. Power absorption experiments are performed under ac magnetic fields (H= 32 kA/m; f= 350 kHz) and the temperature evolution of the sample is monitored through a commercial thermographic camera (resolution, 240×180 pixels; temperature accuracy, 2 K). To complement this simple setup, we design a program consisting of a detailed procedure for extracting graphical information from the video frames and obtaining spatiotemporal temperature profiles. The analysis of these profiles allows us to gather information on temperature, energy, power, and heat flux during the MH experiments. This method and analysis allows us to identify spatial inhomogeneities in samples, such as different local MNP density, which is extremely useful for the development of the therapy in vitro and the application in vivo where MNP aggregation is often present.