Effect of direct-current magnetic field on the specific absorption rate of metamagnetic CoMnSi: A potential approach to switchable hyperthermia therapy

Materials with 1(st) order antiferromagnetic (AFM) to high-magnetization (MM) phase transition known for their inverse magnetocaloric effect, abrupt rise in magnetization and magnetoelastic coupling, are promising for application in combined simultaneous diagnosis and targeted cancer therapy. A therapy that combines alternating-current (ac) and direct-current (dc) magnetic fields for simultaneous magnetic hyperthermia therapy (MHT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), using same magnetic particles for heating and as contrast agents. We report a proof-of-concept study on the induction heating ability of 1(st) order metamagnetic material with moderate specific absorption rates (SAR) and no tendency for agglomeration, for potential MHT and MRI cancer therapy. CoMnSi, a metamagnetic antiferromagnet (MM) was used in this study because of its desirable ability to rapidly switch from a low to high magnetization state in an applied dc bias field condition without particle agglomeration on field removal. The results showed that the magnetization switched from < 20 Am(2)kg(-1) at 0.75 T to about 53.31 Am(2)kg(-1) at 1.0 T applied dc field, a field large enough for magnetic resonance imaging. An SAR value of 10.7 Wg(-1) was obtained under an ac field of 31.0 kAm(-1) at 212.0 kHz. When combined with a dc bias field of 1.0 T, SAR values of 9.83 Wg(-1) and 6.65 Wg(-1) were obtained in the directions 45 degrees and 90 degrees away from the dc bias field direction respectively. These SAR values obtained from CoMnSi particles in the presence of simultaneous ac and dc magnetic field bias are in comparison, at least 25 times greater than those obtained from 2(nd) order magnetic phase transition Fe3O4 suspension. It is observed that Fe3O4 particles showed large suppression of SAR, and agglomeration under the same experimental conditions. This study shows the great potential of 1(st) order phase transition metamagnets for simultaneous MHT and MRI cancer therapy using MRI equipment.