Magnetic Nanotechnology to Treat Venous Thromboembolism

Current pharmacological venous thrombosis (VT) treatments act on the whole body, leading to important secondary effects such as major bleeding in some patients. I aim to develop an effective, localised-action VT therapy that avoids the above-mentioned secondary effects, by using biocompatible iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) labelled with clot disrupting enzymes and antibodies to target venous blood clots. IONPs will be stimulated with magnetic fields to locally increase the temperature of the clot, destroying its cells and boosting the temperature-dependant action of the enzymatic drug with minimal effect on the vein tissues. To assess the functionality of this therapy and significantly reduce the need of animal experiments in my research, I will fabricate a tissue-engineered vein system that will mimics the human vein conditions. These studies will allow to assess the feasibility of using nanotechnology to treat VT in more efficient and safe manner that traditional systemic drugs.