Abstract
In this work, a preliminary study in the application of a laser trap for ionization of living carcinoma cells is presented. The study was conducted using BT20 breast carcinoma cells cultured and harvested in our laboratory. Each cell, for a total of 50 cells, was trapped and ionized by a high intensity infrared laser at 1064 nm. The threshold radiation dose and the resultant charge from the ionization for each cell were determined. With the laser trap serving as a radiation source, the cell underwent dielectric breakdown of the membrane. When this process occurs, the cell becomes highly charged and its dielectric susceptibility changes. The charge creates an increasing electrostatic force while the changing dielectric susceptibility diminishes the strength of the trapping force. Consequently, at some instant of time the cell gets ejected from the trap. The time inside the trap while the cell is being ionized, the intensity of the radiation, and the post ionization trajectory of the cell were used to determine the threshold radiation dose and the charge for each cell. The measurement of the charge vs ionization radiation dose at single cell level could be useful in the accuracy of radiotherapy as the individual charges can collectively create a strong enough electrical interaction to cause dielectric breakdown in other cells in a tumor.
Highlights
In medicine, radiotherapy, or radiation, is a mainstay treatment for cancer
As we have discussed earlier, the sizes of the cells were taken into account when we determined the amplitude of the electric field of the beam acting on each cell
If we focus on the cells with sizes of statistical significance, comparing cumulative probability graph in Fig. 5(c) with the histogram in Fig. 5(a), we note that nearly 90% of cells developed a charge that is less than 148e ( = 2.37 × 10−17 C) with an average of 88+/−32 e ( = 1.4+/0.5 × 10−17 C)
Summary
Radiotherapy, or radiation, is a mainstay treatment for cancer. Approximately 50% of cancer patients receive radiotherapy during the course of treatment. Radiation has the same effect on the healthy cells that surround the cancerous tumor. The balance of enough radiation to effectively kill the cancerous cells and with limitations to prevent the ill effects of radiotoxicity to the healthy cells is called the therapeutic ratio [2]. Normal cells proliferate much slower than cancer cells, meaning that they have more time to repair damage due to radiation before replicating. This is why traditionally, radiation doses are fractionated. A more accurate therapeutic ratio, based on the cellular level, could help eliminate radiation-induced tissue toxicity and improve the sterilization of the cancerous cells
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