Rotating magnetic macrospheres as heating mechanism for remote controlled drug release

Abstract A permanent magnetic macrosphere (diameter: 5 mm) spherically seated in an oil bearing inside an experimental capsule (comparable to a hard gelatine capsule size 2) is turned by a rotating magnetic field ( H ⩽ 5 kA/m; frequency ν ⩽500 Hz) and causes a temperature rise up to about 60 °C. In order to find further possible improvements, the experimental results were compared to theoretical expectations. First experiments using improved thermal isolation yielded temperatures of about 100 °C. The heating can be used as a mechanism to remotely release drugs in the gastrointestinal tract.