Magnetic apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10908237-B2
Application number	US-201815945512-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 4, 2018
Priority date	Apr 5, 2017
Publication date	Feb 2, 2021
Grant date	Feb 2, 2021

Abstract

An apparatus includes a magnetic apparatus that defines an actuation volume that is large enough to accommodate a sample, the magnetic apparatus including a magnet that is configured to create a magnetic field having a magnitude B in the sample when supplied with a DC current; at least one biological construct within the sample, the biological construct configured to change its status in response to a change in a property; and at least one magnetocaloric actuator coupled with the biological construct. A change in a characteristic in the actuation volume causes the property of the magnetocaloric actuator to change, which causes a change in the status of the biological construct.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving a sample in a sample volume defined by a magnetic apparatus;
thermally coupling at least one magnetocaloric actuator within the sample with a thermally-sensitive biological construct within the sample such that the biological construct changes its status in response to a change in a temperature of the magnetocaloric actuator;
creating, with a DC current supplied to the magnetic apparatus, a magnetic field having a magnitude B in the sample, the magnitude B being greater than 0.5 Tesla (T) and up to 20 T; and
changing a status of the thermally-sensitive biological construct by:
changing the magnitude B of the magnetic field in the sample by an amount that is in the range 1-20 T by changing the DC current supplied to the magnetic apparatus, to thereby affect a magnetic phase transition in the magnetocaloric actuator between a first magnetic state and a second magnetic state that is distinct from the first magnetic state,
wherein the magnetic phase transition in the magnetocaloric material causes the temperature of the magnetocaloric actuator to change, which causes the change in the status of the thermally-sensitive biological construct.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein changing the magnitude B of the magnetic field in the sample comprises changing the magnitude B of the magnetic field by 2 T.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein changing the status of the thermally-sensitive biological construct comprises changing the thermally-sensitive biological construct from a closed state to an open state.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temperature change caused to the magnetocaloric actuator occurs without causing a change in status of materials within the sample other than the at least one thermally-sensitive biological construct.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
increasing the magnitude B of the magnetic field causes the temperature of the magnetocaloric actuator to increase and the temperature of the thermally-sensitive biological construct to increase; and
decreasing the magnitude B of the magnetic field causes the temperature of the magnetocaloric actuator to decrease and the temperature of the thermally-sensitive biological construct to decrease.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
increasing the magnitude B of the magnetic field causes the temperature of the magnetocaloric actuator to decrease and the temperature of the thermally-sensitive biological construct to decrease; and
decreasing the magnitude B of the magnetic field causes the temperature of the magnetocaloric actuator to increase and the temperature of the thermally-sensitive biological construct to increase.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temperature of an environment of the sample is maintained at a value between 270 and 370 K.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein changing the magnitude B of the magnetic field in the sample comprises changing the magnitude B of the magnetic field by an amount that is smaller than the magnitude B.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sample is a living organism, the method further comprising maintaining a temperature of the sample at a physiological temperature to maintain the organism in a living state.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the magnetocaloric actuator includes a material selected from the group consisting of iron-rhodium, alloys of iron-rhodium, alloys of manganese arsenide, Heusler alloys, alloys of manganese-iron, and gadolinium.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sample is a living organism, the method further comprising maintaining a sample environment at a physiological temperature to maintain the organism in a living state.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the thermally-sensitive biological construct includes an ion channel.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the ion channel is a transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member or a transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M member.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
changing the magnitude B of the magnetic field in the sample comprises increasing the magnitude B of the magnetic field associated with the sample, which causes the temperature of the magnetocaloric actuator to increase; and
changing the magnitude B of the magnetic field in the sample comprises decreasing the magnitude B of the magnetic field associated with the sample, which causes the temperature of the magnetocaloric actuator to decrease.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
changing the magnitude B of the magnetic field in the sample comprises increasing the magnitude B of the magnetic field associated with the sample, which causes the temperature of the magnetocaloric actuator to decrease; and
changing the magnitude B of the magnetic field in the sample comprises decreasing the magnitude B of the magnetic field associated with the sample, which causes the temperature of the magnetocaloric actuator to increase.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the change caused to the temperature of the magnetocaloric actuator occurs without causing a change in status of materials within the sample other than the at least one biological construct.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein creating the magnetic field having the magnitude B in the sample comprises supplying energy to a magnet that creates the magnetic field.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein supplying energy to the magnet comprises supplying a constant DC current through electrically conductive wire coils that form the magnet.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein thermally coupling the at least one magnetocaloric actuator within the sample with the thermally-sensitive biological construct within the sample comprises physically coupling the at least one magnetocaloric actuator with an ion channel that has a status that is either closed or open.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temperature of the magnetocaloric actuator is changed by increasing the temperature or decreasing the temperature.

21. A method comprising:
receiving a sample in a sample volume defined by a magnetic apparatus;
thermally coupling at least one magnetocaloric actuator within the sample with a thermally-sensitive biological construct within the sample such that the biological construct changes its status in response to a change in a temperature of the magnetocaloric actuator;
creating a magnetic field having a magnitude B in the sample; and
changing a status of the thermally-sensitive biological construct by:
changing the magnitude B of the magnetic field in the sample by an amount in a range of 1 Tesla (T) to 20 T by changing a DC current supplied to the magnetic apparatus, to thereby affect a magnetic phase transition in the magnetocaloric actuator between a first magnetic state and a second magnetic state that is distinct from the first magnetic state,

wherein the magnetic phase transition in the magnetocaloric material causes the temperature of the magnetocaloric actuator to change, which causes the change in the status of the thermally-sensitive biological construct, and
wherein the temperature change in the magnetocaloric actuator is less than 20° C. for a change in magnetic field magnitude of between 1-20 T.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the change in temperature (dT) of the magnetocaloric actuator is given by:

d
⁢
T

=

Assignees

• Hughes Howard Med Inst

Inventors

• Barbic Mladen

Classifications

• G01R33/5601 Primary

  involving use of a contrast agent for contrast manipulation, e.g. a paramagnetic, super-paramagnetic, ferromagnetic or hyperpolarised contrast agent · CPC title

• A61B5/0515

  Magnetic particle imaging · CPC title

• A61N2/00

  Magnetotherapy · CPC title

• A61B5/01

  Measuring temperature of body parts {; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue} (clinical contact thermometers G01K13/20) · CPC title

• G01R33/3815

  with superconducting coils, e.g. power supply therefor · CPC title