Applied Sciences (Jan 2020)
An Analytical–Experimental Approach to Quantifying the Effects of Static Magnetic Fields for Cell Culture Applications
Abstract
This work aimed to study the effects of static magnetic fields (SMFs) on cell cultures. A glass flask was filled with a liquid medium, which was surrounded by permanent magnets. Air was introduced through a tube to inject bubbles. Two magnet configurations, north and south, were used as perturbation. Scenedesmus obliquus and Nannochloropsis gaditana, growing in Medium 1 and 2, were subjected to the bubbly flow and SMFs. Differences between media were mainly due to conductivity (0.09 S/m for Medium 1 and 4.3 S/m for Medium 2). Joule dissipation ( P ) increased with the magnetic flux density ( B 0 ), being 4 orders of magnitude higher in Medium 2 than in 1. Conversely, the time constant ( τ P ) depended on B 0 , being nearly constant for Medium 1 and decreasing at 449 s/T for Medium 2. Dissipation occurred with the same τ P (235 s) in Medium 1 and 2 at B 0 = 0.5 T. In Species 1, the SMF effect was inhibitory. For Species 2, a higher enzymatic activity was observed. For superoxide dismutase, the relative difference was 78% with the north and 115% with the south configuration compared to the control values. For the catalase, differences of 29% with the north and 23% with the south configuration compared to control condition were obtained.
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