The NANOMAGBIOTECH group facilities are located in the Hyperthermia lab, at IMDEA Nanociencia. This lab is a room of 60 m2 hosting different experimental set-ups in order to perform advanced magnetic characterization of magnetic colloids in liquid dispersions or inside biological fluids or matrices (cells and tissues). We have developed several equipments needed for our daily tasks: two prototypes of different magnetometers for probing the magnetic response of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) under alternating magnetic fields: 1) inductive magnetometer which allows to probe magnetization response up to 300 kHz and 24 kA/m of MNPs dispersed in any liquid dispersion (aqueous or organic);2) Magneto-optical magnetometer which allows to probe the influence of field conditions on the magnetization response of MNP dispersed in water dispersion when varying the field frequency from 100 mHz till 100 kHz. Moreover, we have developed an third prototype of magneto-thermal calorimeter to determine the specific absorption rate of MNPs dispersed in aqueous media when applying alternating magnetic fields up to 400 kHz and 60 kA/m. All prototypes are fully automated and run by a friendly user interface which have been designed considering the practical aspects related to academic and industrial needings.
Our lab hosts also the Advanced Instrumentation Unit which is in charged of the preparation of customized magnetometer and calorimeter prototypes, and alternating magnetic field generators for in vitro and in vivo hyperthermia studies. The Unit also offers a service of external measurements where external user come to perform magnetic characterization of their magnetic nanostructures. The Unit has most of the equipments and consumable suppliers for optimal development of its tasks.
Additionally, the IMDEA location at the Campus Excelencia UAM-CSIC supplies an exceptional environment for scientific research. Thus, we have access to different indoor and outdoor technical and scientific infrastructures for analytical, structural, colloidal or magnetic characterization of magnetic nanoparticles. This include access to the IMDEA Cell Unit and also to the Centro Nacional de Biotecnología-CSIC facilities because Francisco J. Teran is member of the "Unidad Asociada de Nanobiotecnología CNB-CSIC and iMdea-Nanociencia". But most importantly, Campus Excellence UAM-CSIC hosts the nanomaterials and biotechnology communities internationally recognised and most active in Spain. The seminar, workshops, congress held in the Campus Excellence UAM-CSIC provide the ideal environment for training early stage researchers. Also, the Campus is fertile ground for starting and strengthening scientific collaborations in material science related to biomedical or biotechnological issues. In this sense, the NANOMAGBIOTECH group is quite active and has tight links with highly recognised national and international groups on the topic. Actually, some of the ongoing collaborations are the following:
International
Ingrid Hilger@ University Hospital of Jena, Jena (Germany); Teresa Pellegrino @ Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova (Italy); Florence Gazeau @ Université Paris-Diderot, Paris (France); Neil Telling @ Keele University, Keele (United Kingdom); Luc Dupré@ Ghent University; Takashi Yoshida @ Kyushu University, Fukuoka ( Japan);
National
Daniel Jaque and Beatriz H. Juarez @ Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid; Aitziber L. Cortajarena @ CiC biomaGUNE, Donostia.
Thus, the NANOMAGBIOTECH group participates in National and European projects and specialized networks that provides funding, and generates new knowledge which are disseminated in prestigious scientific journals and international conferences. At the same time, the participation in the Cost Action RADIOMAG (TD1402) provides the ideal environment and opportunities for realizing short time scientific missions in European labs working on Magnetic Hyperthermia. The RADIOMAG Cost Action is an excellent opportunity to host PhD students and postdocs with whom exchange expertise and knowledge. Since 2015, the NANOMAGBIOTECH group hosts two visitors per year who stay fourteen days in the lab.