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THE SPINTRONIC SCANNER FOR CANCER DETECTION

SEMINAR REPORT

SREENATH K.S BSc ELECTRONICS E6 CAS MALLAPPALLY

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ABSTRACT:
Spintronics is a study that deals with spin of an electron, ("spin-based electronics") also nown as !a"neto-electronics, is an e!er"ent technolo"y which e#ploits the $uantu! property of electrons to spin as well as !a in" use of their char"e% There are two spins (&' spin and ()*+ Spin)%This spintronic scannin" techni$ue is an efficient

techni$ue used in the !edical field to detectcan cer cells% Cancer cells are easy to be identified only when they are lar"e in nu!ber% These cells when !atured results in for!ation of tu!or, which has to be re!o,ed by sur"ery% After sur"ery there !ay be presence of e,en a sin"le cancer cell, which would
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result in "rowth of tu!or in effected part of the body% The spintronic scannin" is an efficient techni$ue to detect cancer cells e,en when they are less in nu!ber% The steps in,ol,ed are, A 'atient is e#posed to a stron" !a"netic field so that his body cell "ets !a"neti-ed% A bea! of electrons with polari-ed spin is introduced on the uneffected part of the body and the chan"e in spin is detected by a polar !eter% .et it be /% A bea! of electrons with polari-ed spin is introduced on the part which had under"one sur"ery% And the correspondin" chan"e in spin be 0%
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1f /-023,it indicates that cancer cells ha,e been re!o,ed fro! the body% 1f not, it indicates the presence of traces of cancer cells and it has to be treated a"ain for ensurin" co!plete safety to the patient% Thus this techni$ue efficiently identifies the

presence of cancer cells in that part of the body that has under"one sur"ery to pre,ent any further de,elop!ent%

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1+TR)(&CT1)+:
An e!er"in" research field in physics focused on spindependent de,ices is pheno!ena called applied to The

electronic

spintronics%

pro!ise of spintronics is based on !anipulation not only of the char"e of electrons, but also their spin, which enables the! to perfor! new functions% Currently, the ability to !anipulate electron spin is e#pected to lead to the de,elop!ent of re!ar able i!pro,e!ents in electronic syste!s and de,ises used in photonics, data processin" and

co!!unications technolo"ies only%

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+ow this paper brin"s out an inno,ati,e idea of e#tendin" the hands of spintronics in 45(1CA. 615.(, in the detection of cancer cells e,en when they are ,ery few in nu!ber in the hu!an body% This approach is relied on two i!portant aspects:

the beha,ior of electron spin in a !a"netic field the cancer cell7s abnor!ality o,er nor!al cells

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S'1+TR)+1CS:
Spintronics, or spin electronics, refers to the study of the role played by electron spin in solid state physics, and possible de,ices that specifically e#ploit spin properties instead of or in addition to char"e de"rees of freedo!% 1n

spintronics electron spin, in addition to char"e, is !anipulated to yield a desired outco!e% An electron is 8ust li e a spinnin" sphere of char"e% 1t has a $uantity of an"ular !o!entu! (its "spin") and an associated !a"netis!, and in an a!bient !a"netic field its ener"y depends on how its spin ,ector is oriented% 5,ery electron e#ists in
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one of two states, na!ely, spin-up and spin-down with its spin either 9:;< or =:;<% 1n other words, an electron can rotate either cloc wise or

countercloc wise around its own a#is with constant fre$uency% % Two spins can be "entan"led" with each other, so that neither is distinctly up nor down, but a co!bination of the two possibilities%

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CA+C5R C5..S:
Cancer cells are the so!atic cells which are "rown into abnor!al si-e% The cancer cells ha,e different electro!a"netic pattern when co!pared to nor!al cells% 6or !any types of cancer, it is easier to treat and cure the cancer if it is found early% There are !any different types of cancer, but !ost cancers be"in with abnor!al cells "rowin" out of control, for!in" a lu!p that>s called a tu!or% The tu!or can continue to "row until the cancer be"ins to spread to other parts of the body% 1f the tu!or is found when it is still ,ery s!all, curin" the cancer can be
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easy%

?owe,er,

the

lon"er

the

tu!or

"oes

unnoticed, the "reater the chance that the cancer has spread% This !a es treat!ent !ore difficult% Tu!or de,eloped in hu!an body, is re!o,ed by perfor!in" a sur"ery% 5,en if a sin"le cell is present after the sur"ery, it would a"ain de,elop into a tu!or% 1n order to pre,ent this, an efficient !ethod for detectin" the cancer cells is re$uired% ?ere, in this paper, we introduce a new !ethod for detectin" the cancer cells after a sur"ery% This accurate detection of the e#istence of cancer cells at the be"innin" sta"e itself ensures the pre,ention of further de,elop!ent of the tu!or%

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The spin of an electron has a "reat dependence o,er an e#ternal !a"netic field% 1f a polari-ed electron is e#posed in a !a"netic field, its spin orientation "ets ,aried% This beha,ior of the electron plays a crucial role in the presented approach in this paper%

'olari-ation of spin of electrons is possible so that the spin of all electrons orient in a particular direction%
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The electron spin can be detected by usin" de,ices li e polari!eters%

The electron spin can be controlled electrically 8ust with the application of few ,olts%

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(5T5CT1)+ )6 CA+C5R C5..S:

1t is ,ery i!portant that the cancer cells should be dia"nosed at the earlier sta"es itself failin" which de,elop rapidly into acute tu!ors% A+ 1++)@AT1@5 A''R)AC? T) (5T5CT T?5 CA+C5R C5..S *1T? T?5 ?5.' )6 S'1+TR)+1CS 1S 'R5S5+T5( ?5R5% The followin" setup is used for the detection of cancer cells in a hu!an body:

'olari-ed electron source 4a"netic field Spin detector

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').AR1S5( 5.5CTR)+ S)&RC5: A bea! of electrons is said to be Apolari-edB if their spins point, on a,era"e, in a specific direction% There are se,eral ways to e!ploy spin on electrons and to control the!% The re$uire!ent for this paper is an electron bea! with all its electrons polari-ed in a specific direction% The followin" are the ways to !eet the abo,e said re$uire!ent: 'hotoe!ission fro! ne"ati,e electron affinity CaAs Che!i-ioni-ation of optically pu!ped !eta stable ?eliu! An optically pu!ped electron spin filter

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A spin filter is !ore efficient electron polari-er which uses an ordinary electron source alon" with a "aseous layer of Rb% 6ree electrons diffuse under the action of an electric field throu"h Rb ,apour that has been spin polari-ed in optical pu!pin"% Throu"h spin e#chan"e collisions with the Rb, the free electrons beco!e polari-ed and are e#tracted to for! a bea!% To reduce the e!ission of depolari-in" radiation, +< is used to $uench the e#cited Rb ato!s durin" the optical pu!pin" cycle%

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S'1+ (5T5CT)RS:

There are !any ways by which the spin of the electrons can be detected efficiently% The spin polari-ation of the electron bea! can be analy-ed by usin":

4ott polari!eter Co!pton polari!eter 4oller type polari!eter Typical 4ott polari!eters re$uire electron ener"ies of D:33 e@% But 4ini 4ott polari!eter e@, re$uirin" a s!aller

uses ener"ies of D<E

o,erall desi"n% The 4ini 4ott polari!eter has three

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!a8or sections: the electron transport syste!, the tar"et cha!ber, and the detectors% The first section the electrons enter is the transport syste!% An 5insel lens confi"uration was used here% Two sets of four deflectors were used as the first and last lens%The electrons ne#t enter the tar"et cha!ber% The cha!ber consists of a

cylindrical tar"et within a polished stainless steel he!isphere% A co!!on !aterial used for the hi"h-F nuclei tar"et is "old% .ow-F nuclei help !ini!i-e unwanted scatterin", alu!inu! was chosen%

Scattered electrons then e#it the tar"et cha!ber and are collected

in the detectors% Thus there are !any !ethods for detectin" the spin polari-ation of electrons.

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5/T5R+A. 4AC+5T1C 615.(:

An e#ternal !a"netic field is re$uired durin" this e#peri!ent% The !a"netic field is applied after the sur"ery has under"one% 6irst, it is applied to an unaffected part of the body and then to the sur"ery under"one part of the body% 1t is already !entioned that the !a"netic field could easily alter the polari-ation of electrons%

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A''.1CAT1)+ )6 S'1+TR)+1CS 1+ 45(1CA. 615.(%

5/'5R145+TA. S5T&':

MOTTPOLARIMETER )'T1CA.S'1+61.T5R

H-MAN BO.Y

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T/e !roce"0re or "oing t/is e1!eri2ent is $s ollo3s4

After sur"ery and the re!o,al of the tu!or, the patient is e#posed to a stron" !a"netic field%

+ow the polari-ed electron bea! is applied o,er the unaffected part and spin orientation of electrons are deter!ined usin" polari!eter%

Then the sa!e polari-ed bea! is tar"eted o,er the affected part of the body and fro! the reflected bea!, chan"e in spin is deter!ined%

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Based on these two ,alues of spin orientation, the presence of tu!or cells can be detected e,en if they are ,ery few in nu!ber% ?ence, we su""est this !ethod for the detection purpose% A detailed ,iew of this inno,ati,e approach is "i,en as follows

S'1+ )R15+TAT1)+ )6 T?5 &+A665CT5( 'ART )6 T?5 B)(0:

A''.01+C 4AC+5T1C 615.(:

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*hen the !a"netic field is applied to the unaffected part of the hu!an body, the nor!al so!atic cells absorbs the !a"netic ener"y and retains it%

(5T5R41+1+C T?5 S'1+ )R15+TAT1)+: *hen the electrons "et incident on the cells the !a"netic ener"y absorbed by the cells alters the spin orientation of the electrons% These electrons
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"et reflected and it is detected by the 4ott polari!eter% Then the chan"e in spin orientation of the electrons is !easured as S#%

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S'1+

)R15+TAT1)+

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S&RC5R0

&+(5RC)+5 'ART )6 T?5 B)(0:

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A''.01+C 4AC+5T1C 615.(: 1n the sur"ery under"one part of the body an e#ternal !a"netic field is applied% The cancer cells which are present, if any, will absorb !ore !a"netic ener"y than the nor!al cells since they differ in their electro!a"netic pattern

(5T5R41+1+C T?5 S'1+ )R15+TAT1)+:

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+ow an electron bea! which is polari-ed is incident on the sur"ery under"one part of the body% The !a"netic ener"y absorbed by the cancer cell alter the

spin orientation of the electron bea!% Since cancer cells absorb !ore !a"netic ener"y, the chan"e in orientation caused by the! are also !ore% 1f no
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cancer cells are present the a!ount of chan"e is e$ual to the pre,ious case% The chan"ein spin is !easured by the polari!eter asSy%

1+65R5+C5:

1f the chan"e in the spin in the unaffected part of the body is sa!e as that of the sur"ery under"one part, i%e% 1f S#2Sy Then, There are no cancer cells in the sur"ery under"one part of the body and all the cells ha,e been re!o,ed by the sur"ery%1f the chan"e in spin in the unaffected part is not e$ual to the chan"e caused
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by the sur"ery under"one part of the body, i%e% 1f S# not e$uals Sy Then, There are so!e cancer cells in the sur"ery under"one part of the body and the cancer cells are not co!pletely re!o,ed by the sur"ery%

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C)+C.&S1)+ :
Thus the usa"e of electron spin in the cancer cell detection pro,ides way for the entry of spintronics in !edical field% The approach

su""ested in this paper acts as an efficient way of cancer cell detection after sur"ery thereby

pre,entin" the further "rowth of tu!or cells%

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