  Micromagnetic beads are widely used in biomedical applications for cell
separation, drug delivery, and hypothermia cancer treatment. Here we propose to
use self-organized magnetic bead structures which accumulate on fixed magnetic
seeding points to isolate circulating tumor cells. The analysis of circulating
tumor cells is an emerging tool for cancer biology research and clinical cancer
management including the detection, diagnosis and monitoring of cancer.
Microfluidic chips for isolating circulating tumor cells use either affinity,
size or density capturing methods. We combine multiphysics simulation
techniques to understand the microscopic behavior of magnetic beads interacting
with Nickel accumulation points used in lab-on-chip technologies. Our proposed
chip technology offers the possibility to combine affinity and size capturing
with special antibody-coated bead arrangements using a magnetic gradient field
created by Neodymium Iron Boron permanent magnets. The multiscale simulation
environment combines magnetic field computation, fluid dynamics and discrete
particle dynamics.
