Detection of Breast Cancer Cell-MDA-MB-231 by Measuring Conductivity of Schottky Source/Drain GaN FinFET

Abstract

In this paper, a new Gallium Nitride (GaN) Fin Field Effect Transistor (FinFET) with Schottky Source/Drain is proposed for detection of breast cancer cells by studying the change in conductivity of the device. Healthy breast cells (MCF-10A) and highly invasive breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) possess different dielectric properties at microwave frequencies between 200 MHz to 13.5 GHz. The variation in dielectric constant of breast cancer cells when exposed to radiation alters the conductivity which in turn changes the electrical properties of GaN FinFET and hence can be used for early detection of breast cancer. In the proposed work, output conductance has been evaluated and transient analysis in terms of drain current sensitivity is carried out for MCF-10A and MDA-MB-231 at frequency 900MHz and 10GHz. The paper describes optimization of channel material, fin height, drain voltage and temperature for improved sensing performance. Simulation study has also been carried out for three more types of cancer cells- T-47D, MCF-7 and HS578t at 900MHz. Comparative study of change in drain current of proposed breast cancer cell detector with other existing breast cancer cell detectors is also presented. The results reveal that the proposed FinFET breast cancer cell detector shows 17% higher change in drain current in comparison to previously reported HEMT based breast cancer detectors.