Magnetic Nanoparticle Targeted Hyperthermia of Cutaneous Staphylococcus aureus Infection

The incidence of wound infections that do not adequately respond to standard-of-care antimicrobial treatment has been increasing. To address this challenge, a novel antimicrobial magnetic thermotherapy platform has been developed in which a high-amplitude, high-frequency, alternating magnetic field is used to rapidly heat magnetic nanoparticles that are bound to Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). The antimicrobial efficacy of this platform was evaluated in the treatment of both an in vitro culture model of S. aureus biofilm and a mouse model of cutaneous S. aureus infection. We demonstrated that an antibody-targeted magnetic nanoparticle bound to S. aureus was effective at thermally inactivating S. aureus and achieving accelerated wound healing without causing tissue injury.