Thesis
A nanoparticle dynamics model: computational analysis of nanomedicine in the circulatory system
- Abstract:
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Info: Jeffrey Colin Howman, St. Cross College, DPhil Engineering Science, Michaelmas Term 2024
Background: The brain is one of the most complex organs in the human body and greatly varies from person to person. The delivery of drugs vital for fighting disease occurs largely within the microvasculature. This creates unique challenges when developing patient-specific medical therapies. Modern research has focused on nanoparticle drug delivery methods to treat diseases such as cancer. Generating a model that considers subject variability and nanoparticle characteristics to determine treatment efficacy thus has potential use in a clinical context.
Methods: A model was developed that utilises a Green’s function method to simulate the transport of gold nanoparticles in human microvasculature. This open-source C++ code was adapted here to simulate gold nanoparticle delivery in the cerebral capillary bed using experimental and synthetic statistical networks. This code was used to simulate gold nanoparticles in both steady-state and time-dependent conditions.
Results: Simulations of flow within a series of experimental and synthetic networks provided a set of visual and statistical data describing the delivery of gold nanoparticles to cerebral tissue. Results show a high degree of variability within individual test networks but statistical similarity across all test networks. These results were compared to oxygen, which showed similar transport phenomena despite different solute characteristics.
Conclusions: This thesis emphasizes the importance of simulating the transport of gold nanoparticles within the microvasculature of the human brain. This will become especially significant when analysing nanoparticle treatment efficacy.
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- Files:
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(Preview, Dissemination version, pdf, 6.5MB, Terms of use)
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Authors
Contributors
- Role:
- Supervisor
- Institution:
- University of Oxford
- Division:
- MPLS
- Department:
- Engineering Science
- Role:
- Supervisor
- Institution:
- University of Oxford
- Division:
- MPLS
- Department:
- Engineering Science
- Role:
- Examiner
- ORCID:
- 0000-0002-5229-8991
- Role:
- Examiner
- DOI:
- Type of award:
- DPhil
- Level of award:
- Doctoral
- Awarding institution:
- University of Oxford
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Subjects:
- Deposit date:
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2026-02-20
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Jeffrey Colin Howman
- Copyright date:
- 2025
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