11-03-2011, 03:01 PM
THE SPINTRONIC SCANNER FOR CANCER DETECTION.doc (Size: 287.5 KB / Downloads: 84)
THE SPINTRONIC SCANNER FOR CANCER DETECTION
ABSTRACT:
Spintronics is a study that deals with spin of an electron, ("spin-based electronics") also known as magneto-electronics, is an emergent technology which exploits the quantum property of electrons to spin as well as making use of their charge. There are two spins (UP spin and DOWN Spin).This spintronic scanning technique is an efficient technique used in the medical field to detectcan cer cells.
Cancer cells are easy to be identified only when they are large in number. These cells when matured results in formation of tumor, which has to be removed by surgery. After surgery there may be presence of even a single cancer cell, which would result in growth of tumor in effected part of the body.
The spintronic scanning is an efficient technique to detect cancer cells even when they are less in number.
The steps involved are,
• A Patient is exposed to a strong magnetic field so that his body cell gets
magnetized.
• A beam of electrons with polarized spin is introduced on the uneffected part of the
body and the change in spin is detected by a polar meter. Let it be X.
• A beam of electrons with polarized spin is introduced on the part which had
undergone surgery. And the corresponding change in spin be Y.
• If X-Y=0,it indicates that cancer cells have been removed from the body. If not, it indicates the presence of traces of cancer cells and it has to be treated again for ensuring complete safety to the patient.
Thus this technique efficiently identifies the presence of cancer cells in that part of the body that has undergone surgery to prevent any further development.
INTRODUCTION:
An emerging research field in physics focused on spin- dependent phenomena applied to electronic devices is called spintronics. The promise of spintronics is based on manipulation not only of the charge of electrons, but also their spin, which enables them to perform new functions. Currently, the ability to manipulate electron spin is expected to lead to the development of remarkable improvements in electronic systems and devises used in photonics, data processing and communications technologies only.
Now this paper brings out an innovative idea of extending the hands of spintronics in MEDICAL FIELD, in the detection of cancer cells even when they are very few in number in the human body.
This approach is relied on two important aspects:
• the behavior of electron spin in a magnetic field
• the cancer cell’s abnormality over normal cells
SPINTRONICS:
Spintronics, or spin electronics, refers to the study of the role
played by electron spin in solid state physics, and possible devices that specifically
exploit spin properties instead of or in addition to charge degrees of freedom. In
spintronics electron spin, in addition to charge, is manipulated to yield a desired outcome.
An electron is just like a spinning sphere of charge. It has a quantity of angular momentum (its "spin") and an associated magnetism, and in an ambient magnetic field its energy depends on how its spin vector is oriented. Every electron exists in one of two states, namely, spin-up and spin-down with its spin either +1/2 or –1/2. In other words, an electron can rotate either clockwise or counterclockwise around its own axis with constant frequency. . Two spins can be "entangled" with each other, so that neither is distinctly up nor down, but a combination of the two possibilities.
CANCER CELLS:
Cancer cells are the somatic cells which are grown into abnormal size. The cancer cells have different electromagnetic pattern when compared to normal cells.
For many types of cancer, it is easier to treat and cure the cancer if it is found early. There are many different types of cancer, but most cancers begin with abnormal cells growing out of control, forming a lump that's called a tumor. The tumor can continue to grow until the cancer begins to spread to other parts of the body. If the tumor is found when it is still very small, curing the cancer can be easy. However, the longer the tumor goes unnoticed, the greater the chance that the cancer has spread. This makes treatment more difficult.
Tumor developed in human body, is removed by performing a surgery. Even if a single cell is present after the surgery, it would again develop into a tumor. In order to prevent this, an efficient method for detecting the cancer cells is required.
Here, in this paper, we introduce a new method for detecting the cancer cells after a surgery. This accurate detection of the existence of cancer cells at the beginning stage itself ensures the prevention of further development of the tumor.
PROPERTIES OF SPIN:
• The spin of an electron has a great dependence over an external magnetic field. If a polarized electron is exposed in a magnetic field, its spin orientation gets varied. This behavior of the electron plays a crucial role in
the presented approach in this paper.
• Polarization of spin of electrons is possible so that the spin of all
electrons orient in a particular direction.
• The electron spin can be detected by using devices like polarimeters.
The electron spin can be controlled electrically just with the
application of few volts.
DETECTION OF CANCER CELLS:
It is very important that the cancer cells should be diagnosed at the earlier
stages itself failing which develop rapidly into acute tumors.
AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO DETECT THE CANCER CELLS WITH
THE HELP OF SPINTRONICS IS PRESENTED HERE.
The following setup is used for the detection of cancer cells in a human
body:
• Polarized electron source
• Magnetic field
• Spin detector