Abstract
The delivery of hyperthermic thermoseeds to a specific target site with minimal side effects is an important challenge in targeted hyperthermia, which employs magnetic method and functional polymers. An external magnetic field is used to control the site‐specific targeting of the magnetic nanoparticles. Polymer‐coated magnetic nanoparticles can confer a higher affinity to the biological cell membranes. In this study, uncoated, chitosan‐coated, and starch‐coated magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized for use as a hyperthermic thermoseed. Each sample was examined with respect to their applications to hyperthermia using XRD, VSM, and FTIR. In addition, the temperature changes under an alternating magnetic field were observed. As in vitro tests, the magnetic responsiveness of chitosan‐ and starch‐coated magnetite was determined by a simple blood vessel model under various intensities of magnetic field. L929 normal cells and KB carcinoma cells were used to examine the cytotoxicity and affinity of each sample using the MTT method. The chitosan‐coated magnetic nanoparticles generated a higher Δ__T__ of 23°C under an AC magnetic field than the starch‐coated magnetite, and the capturing rate of the particles was 96% under an external magnetic field of 0.4 T. The highest viability of L929 cells was 93.7%. Comparing the rate of KB cells capture with the rate of L929 cells capture, the rate of KB cells capture relatively increased with 10.8% in chitosan‐coated magnetic nanoparticles. Hence, chitosan‐coated magnetic nanoparticles are biocompatible and have a selective affinity to KB cells. The targeting of magnetic nanoparticles in hyperthermia was improved using a controlled magnetic field and a chitosan‐coating. Therefore, chitosan‐coated magnetic nanoparticles are expected to be promising materials for use in magnetic targeted hyperthermia. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2009