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THE SPINTRONIC
SCANNER FOR
CANCER DETECTION
SEMINAR REPORT

SREENATH K.S
BSc ELECTRONICS
E6
CAS

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MALLAPPALLY

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ABSTRACT:
Spintronics is a study that deals with
spin

of

electronics")
electronics,

an

electron,

also
is

an

known

("spin-based
as

emergent

magnetotechnology

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.
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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

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.

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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.

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INTRODUCTION:
An emerging research field in physics
focused on spin- dependent phenomena
applied

to

electronic

devices

is

called

spintronics. The promise of spintronics is

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based on manipulation not only of the

charge of electrons, but also their spin,
which

enables

functions.

them

to

Currently,

perform

the

ability

new
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:
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the

behavior

of

electron

spin

in

magnetic field
the

cancer

cells

abnormality

normal cells

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over

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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
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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
around

clockwise
its

own

or
axis

counterclockwise
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.

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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

abnormal

most

cells

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cancers

growing

out

begin
of

with

control,

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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

However,

the

the

cancer

longer

can

the

be

easy.

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.

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Here, in this paper, we introduce a

new method for detecting the cancer cells
after a surgery. This accurate detection of
the

existence

beginning

of

stage

cancer

cells

at

itself

ensures

the
the

prevention of further development of the

tumor.

PROPERTIES OF SPIN:

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The spin of an electron has a great

dependence
magnetic

over

field.

If

an

external

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
electrons

so

that

orient

the
in

spin
a

of

all

particular

direction.

The electron spin can be detected by

using devices like polarimeters.
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The

electron

spin

can

be

controlled

electrically just with the

application of few volts.

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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

detection of cancer cells in a human

body:

Polarized electron source

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the

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Magnetic field
Spin detector

POLARISED ELECTRON SOURCE:

A beam of electrons is said to
be polarized if their spins point, on
average, in a specific direction. There are
several ways to employ spin on electrons
and to control them. The requirement for
this paper is an electron beam with all its
electrons polarized in a specific direction.
The following are the ways to meet the
above said requirement:
Photoemission from negative electron
affinity GaAs

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Chemi-ionization of optically pumped

meta stable Helium
An

optically

pumped

electron

spin

filter

A spin filter is more efficient electron

polarizer which uses an ordinary electron
source along with a gaseous layer of Rb.
Free electrons diffuse under the action of
an electric field through Rb vapour that has
been spin polarized in optical pumping.
Through spin exchange collisions with the
Rb, the free electrons become polarized
and are extracted to form a beam. To
reduce

the

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emission

of

depolarizing

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radiation, N2 is used to quench the excited

Rb atoms during the optical pumping cycle.

SPIN DETECTORS:

There are many ways by which the spin of

the electrons can be detected efficiently.
The spin polarization of the electron beam
can be analyzed by using:
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Mott polarimeter
Compton polarimeter
Moller type polarimeter
Typical

Mott

polarimeters

require

electron energies of ~100 keV. But Mini

Mott polarimeter uses energies of ~25 keV,
requiring a smaller overall design. The Mini
Mott polarimeter has three major sections:
the electron transport system, the target
chamber,

and

the

detectors.

The

first

section the electrons enter is the transport

system. An Einsel lens configuration was
used here. Two sets of four deflectors were
used as the first and last lens.The electrons
next

enter

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the

target

chamber.
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The

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chamber

consists

of

cylindrical target within a polished stainless

steel hemisphere. A common material used
for the high-Z nuclei target is gold. Low-Z
nuclei help minimize unwanted scattering,
aluminum was chosen. Scattered electrons
then

exit

the

target

chamber

and

are

collected
in the detectors. Thus there are many
methods for detecting the spin polarization
of electrons.

EXTERNAL MAGNETIC FIELD:

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An external magnetic field is required

during this experiment. The magnetic field
is applied after the surgery has undergone.
First, it is applied to an unaffected part of
the

body

and

then

to

the

surgery

undergone part of the body. It is already

mentioned that the magnetic field could
easily alter the polarization of electrons.

APPLICATION OF SPINTRONICS
IN MEDICAL FIELD.

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EXPERIMENTAL SETUP:

MOTTPOLARIMETER
OPTICALSPINFILTER

HUMAN BODY

The procedure for doing this experiment is as

follows:

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After surgery and the removal of the

tumor, the patient is exposed to a
strong magnetic field.

Now the polarized electron beam is

applied over the unaffected part
and

spin

orientation

of

electrons

are

determined using polarimeter.

Then

the

same

polarized

beam

is

targeted over the affected part of the

body and from the reflected beam, change
in spin is determined.
Based on these two values of spin
orientation, the presence of tumor cells can
be detected even if they are very few in
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number. Hence, we suggest this method for

the detection purpose. A detailed view of
this innovative approach is given as follows

SPIN ORIENTATION OF THE UNAFFECTED

PART OF THE BODY:

APPLYING MAGNETIC FIELD:

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When the magnetic field is applied to the

unaffected part of the human
body, the normal somatic cells absorbs the
magnetic energy and retains it.

DETERMINING THE SPIN ORIENTATION:

When the electrons get incident on the cells
the magnetic energy absorbed by the cells
alters the spin orientation of the electrons.
These electrons get reflected and it is
detected by the Mott polarimeter. Then the
change in spin orientation of the electrons
is measured as Sx.

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SPIN

ORIENTATION

OF

SURGERY

UNDERGONE PART OF THE BODY:

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APPLYING MAGNETIC FIELD:

In the surgery undergone part of the
body an external magnetic field is applied.
The cancer cells which are present, if any,
will absorb more magnetic energy than the
normal

cells

since

they

differ

in

their

electromagnetic pattern

DETERMINING THE SPIN ORIENTATION:

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Now an electron beam which is

polarized

is

incident

on

the

surgery

undergone part of the body. The magnetic

energy absorbed by the cancer cell alter
the
spin orientation of the electron beam. Since
cancer cells absorb more magnetic energy,
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the change in orientation caused by them

are also more. If no cancer cells are present
the amount of change is equal to the
previous

case.

The

changein

spin

is

measured by the polarimeter asSy.

INFERENCE:

If the change in the spin in the unaffected

part of the body is same as that of the
surgery undergone part, i.e.
If
Sx=Sy
Then,
There are no cancer cells in the surgery
undergone part of the body and all the cells
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have been removed by the surgery.If the

change in spin in the unaffected part is not
equal to the change caused by the surgery
undergone part of the body, i.e. If Sx not
equals Sy
Then,
There are some cancer cells in the surgery
undergone part of the body and the cancer
cells are not completely removed by the
surgery.

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CONCLUSION :
Thus the usage of electron spin in the
cancer cell detection provides way for the
entry of spintronics in medical field. The
approach suggested in this paper acts as an
efficient way of cancer cell detection after
surgery

thereby

preventing

the

further

growth of tumor cells.

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REFERENCES:

1.WWW.PHYSICSWEB.COM
2.WWW.QUINON.COM
3.WWW.JLAB.ORG
4.WWW.EBAY.COM

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