Investigators at Tel Aviv University (Israel) conducted experiments using an in vitro tissue model, an inductive heating system, and an infrared camera. The thermal images, recorded by the infrared camera, were analyzed using an algorithm that was developed as part of the work.

Results published in the July 8, 2010, online edition of the journal Nanomedicine showed that small tumor phantoms (diameter of 0.5 mm) that were embedded under the surface of the tissue phantom (up to 14 mm below the surface) could be detected and located.

By coating the nanoparticles with antibodies directed at specific tumors, it was possible to administer them through the blood with subsequent concentration at the site of the tumor.

"Once the nanoparticles bind to the tumor, we excite them with an external magnetic field, and they begin to heat very specifically and locally,” explained senior author Dr. Israel Gannot, professor of biomedical engineering at Tel Aviv University. "The magnetic field is manipulated to create a targeted rise in temperature, and it is this directed heat elevation which kills the tumors.”

The U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA)-approved nanoparticles are readily excreted from the body and they cause little or no damage to normal tissues.

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