Biophotonics Link To New Biophysics Approach to Early Cancer Detection & Treatment Techniques...?

ATS Team:

Here is an interesting article pertaining to a new early detection method for pre-cancerous & cancerous cells.

In addition to the interest intrinsic in all such innovations, I thought some members might be interested in thinking about & commenting on how this might link into the oft discussed area of biophotonics, in both its scientific & more esoteric meanings of the word.

www.lifescientists.de...

www.photonics.com...

en.wikipedia.org...

Notwithstanding that I did not agree with its premise, I also recall this ATS thread that jumped into this topic……sometimes in a “grounded” manner & sometimes in a much more “Twilight Zone” vein.

ATS Thread: Can The Human Eyeball Actually Emit An Energy Beam?



I will add more info as I find it & as time allows.

Here is the article which prompted my thread:

Building on previous findings demonstrating that breast cancer cells emit unique electromagnetic signals, engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have found that a single cancerous cell produces electric signals proportional to the speed at which the cell divides. Their model reveals that heightened movement of ions at the boundary of the cancerous cell produces larger electrical signals.

The findings will help scientists understand the biophysics associated with rapidly dividing breast cancer cells and may contribute to the development of new detection and treatment techniques.

All cells maintain a difference in voltage between their intracellular and extracellular media, said Ahmed Hassan, doctoral student in electrical engineering. Previous work found that MCF-7, a standard breast cancer cell line, hyperpolarizes meaning simply that it increases its membrane voltage in negative polarity during two critical stages prior to cell division. What were trying to do is build a better understanding of how this complicated mechanism works.

Hassan works under the direction of Magda El-Shenawee, associate professor of electrical engineering. In previous work, El-Shenawee created a microwave-imaging system that provides sharp, three-dimensional images of hard objects buried within soft tissue. She was able to do this by transmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves that traveled through soft tissue and bounced off the hard object.

The new direction of El-Shenawees research does not require transmission of electromagnetic waves. Rather, in a process known as passive biopotential diagnosis special sensors only receive electromagnetic waves. They read the unique signals released by activity within and around a growing tumor. As mentioned above, Hassan and El-Shenawee focused on a single cell, which may help researchers recognize abnormalities long before cell aggregates reach the tumor stage. A 1-millimeter tumor comprises tens of thousands of cells.

www.usedphysicsbooks.com...

Your thoughts.....?

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not

Wow, no replies? This stuff is most fascinating MMN, thanks for bringing it onboard. Man I have learned so much here at ats thanks to quality threads like this.
Casimir forces- did not know about this, should be real interesting how the new graphene plates tie into, and should provide quite an advancement. This should also affect the potential Poissanian rates. I say this as if I know what I'm talking about but really I don't....just learning.

I wonder if biophotons are related to chi in any way, or what differentiates them from "bioelectricity?

How do you think this will change things MMN? ETA: I read thru the info and found some answers.
What happened to the trials from 7/08? Are they finished?

Gratitude,
spec

[edit on 31-7-2010 by speculativeoptimist]

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


Speculativeoptimist.....

Thank you for being the one & only respondent to my thread!

Perhaps I'm becoming a bit too esoteric in here!

The whole thing struck me as interesting in that I thought some of the "biophotonics crowd" might like to discuss this potential "scientific approach" that could be seen as tangential to this whole area.

I have no idea how the trials have progressed.

I note the interesting discussions pertaining to the manner in which the NanoKnife IRE technology might interrupt such DNA oriented processes in cancer cells.

I note my references to a new "cancer technology" that could pertain to pre-cancerous changes, in view of the mention of same in the article pertaining to this thread.

NanoKnife: Cancer Breakthrough Without Radiation or Drugs

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not

I'm upping this thread, very sensitive subject.

The University of Arkansas abstract is here

Modeling Biopotential Signals and Current Densities of Multiple Breast Cancerous Cells

The fulltext is made free by the 1st author.

emag.eleg.uark.edu/published/ahm4.pdf



This paper appears in: Biomedical Engineering, IEEE Transactions on
Issue Date: Sept. 2010
Volume: 57 Issue:9
On page(s): 2099 - 2106
ISSN: 0018-9294
Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/TBME.2010.2049575
Date of Publication: 10 May 2010
Date of Current Version: 16 August 2010
Sponsored by: IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
Abstract

This study presents a model to simulate the electrophysiological activities of multiple Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7) cells, the most studied breast cancer cell line. The intercellular spacing of MCF-7 cells is estimated using the effective diffusion coefficient. Nonuniform finite-difference discretization is implemented to accommodate for the contrast in size between the intercellular spacing and the cell dimension. The model computes the amplitude and the spatiotemporal patterns of biopotentials and electric current densities at different cell division stages. The results show that the biopotentials increase proportionally to the number of cells, especially when all cells are in the hyperpolarization stage. Also, the results show significant electric current density in the intercellular gap between the cells.

[edit on 27-8-2010 by jjjtir]

reply to post by jjjtir


Jjjtir.....

Thank you!

That is very interesting, upon 1st view.

I will look at it more closely in a little while.

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not