Magnetic Levitation of Small Animals

Magnetic levitation uses the magnetic force to balance the gravitational force of Earth. Such levitation has found various applications in industries and transportation. For levitating diamagnetic objects, a strong magnetic field and an appropriate magnetic field gradient are required. Recent demonstration of successful levitation of mice has opened up many new research arenas in studying microgravity effects in mammals including humans. In this thesis, I have done some preliminary analysis of variation of magnetic levitation force associated with a field. Such an inhomogeneity is estimated in this thesis. Also, this thesis describes the work of a detailed design of a simple metabolic cage for housing young mice living in the magnetic levitation field of a superconducting magnet with bore size being 2.5 inches in diameter. Performance of the cage should be fully tested in future studies.