Theoretical and experimental characterization of magnetophoretic mobility

Magnetic cell separation technology has become a commonly used technique to enrich or deplete cells of interest from a heterogeneous cell population. One important aspect of continuous magnetic cell separation is the degree to which a cell binds paramagnetic material. It is this paramagnetic material which imparts magnetophoretic mobility to the target cell sufficient enough to allow an effective separation. The methodology and mathematical theory have been developed which address the characterization of magnetic labeling and the fundamental parameters controlling the magnetophoretic mobility of an immunomagnetically labeled cell. Several of the parameters controlling magnetophoretic mobility have been experimentally evaluated using cell tracking velocimetry (CTV) technology and these experimental results were found to be in good agreement with the theory. This characterization of magnetophoretic mobility has provided a further understanding of the paramagnetic labels used in magnetic separation technology and also allows predictions of magnetic cell separation performance.