Development of micro-magnets for bio-medical applications

ChE Seminar Series Presents:

Nora M. Dempsey

Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, Institut NEEL, 38000 Grenoble, France

Abstract:

Magnetic flux sources are used to manipulate biological entities (cells, embryos, DNA, proteins…). The magnetic field gradients produced by a flux source scales up as its size is decreased, resulting in increased force per unit volume. Hard magnetic flux sources are particularly interesting for compact and / or portable applications while the force produced by soft magnetic flux sources on a target object are easily varied.  There is thus great potential for using both hard and soft micro-magnets as flux sources in biology and medicine.

In this talk I will briefly review our work on the development and micro-patterning of magnetic films, in particular Rare Earth – Transition Metal hard magnetic films, and the low-cost fabrication of micro-magnet arrays based on powder-polymer composites. I will then give examples of bio-medical applications of the micro-magnets we have developed. To wrap up I will discuss potential uses of high intensity pulsed magnetic field sources in bio-medical applications.

Biography:

Nora Dempsey received her PhD from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, in 1998. Since then she has been based at Institut Néel, CNRS Grenoble in France. She works on functional magnetic materials, with an emphasis on hard magnetic materials in film form. These films are used as model systems to guide the development of bulk magnets, and also to develop micro-magnets for applications in biology, medicine, telecommunications and energy management.

Please contact a.ramsey@northeastern.edu for the remote seminar link.