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Phase 5 (2012 Deadline)
Study of Magnetic Materials for Hyperthermia Treatment of Cancer Shahid Ahmad Shaheen, Florida State University (before July 2015) and Michael Shatruk, Florida State University (after July 2015)
Sadia Manzoor, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Project Overview Over the past decade there has been an alarming increase in the incidence of cancer in the Pakistani population. It has been reported that Pakistani women have the highest rate of breast cancer in Asia and the highest rate of ovarian cancer worldwide. Traditional methods of cancer therapy such as radio and chemotherapy are painful, expensive and fraught with side-effects. The objective of this research effort is to identify the best suited materials (magnetic nano-particles) for hyperthermia treatment of cancer. It is also educational because it will involve graduate and undergraduate students completing their research theses within the framework of this project. Progress Reports 2014: As part of this project, the team set out to create materials whose magnetic strength is lost at a certain temperature. This temperature threshold at which a magnetic material loses its magnetic strength is referred as its Curie temperature. No natural substance has a Curie temperature of 45 degrees centigrade but materials with such properties can be engineered. The team identified three such materials, Gd3C, Gd5Si4, and MnBi and are studying and optimizing their properties so that their nano-particles may be produced through ball milling the bulk materials and tested for radio frequency heating. Eventually these materials could be made available for hyperthermia applications. The team plans to identify the best one among the three and proceed with its testing for the next six to nine months.
Tenders have been floated for the following equipment in Pakistan: A ball milling machine with accessories and a hyperthermia measurement unit. The ball milling equipment will have the capability of ball milling in vacuum, inert gases, or appropriate liquids to overcome the oxidation of powders. The team anticipates that these facilities will be in-place and operational within the next six months. On the U.S. side, a high vacuum turbo pumping station has been purchased and a high vacuum sample sealing setup has been acquired for annealing purposes.
One MS and one PhD student have been selected to help with research at CIIT in Pakistan. An academic course named “Physics of Magnetism (PHY550)”, intended to be taught to graduate students, has been updated and will be submitted for approval in the next CIIT Board of Studies meeting. Dr. Shaheen will spend the month of January in Pakistan working on this project.
In the last year both Drs. Shaheen and Manzoor contributed articles related to this project to the Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Transactions on Magnetics.
2015: The objective of this research effort is to identify the best suited materials for hyperthermia treatment of cancer. The idea is to inject the magnetic nano-particle in the cancer area and heat the cancer area using radio frequency heating/ microwave heating externally. The magnetic particles couple with the radio frequency heating quicker than human body and generate local heating in the cancer area. The cancerous cells can be killed in the temperature range of 40-45 degree and normal cells can survive this temperature but can be damaged by overheating, therefore controlling the temperature is critical. We are therefore searching for materials which have strongest possible magnetic strength but will lose their magnetic strength above 45 degree centigrade so that overheating may be avoided, and may work as a self triggering heating switch. The temperature above which a magnetic material loses its magnetic strength is referred as its Curie temperature. No natural substance has Curie temperature of 45 degree centigrade but materials with such properties can be engineered. We have identified several materials, Gd5Si4, Gd2C, FeB, MnB, and MnBi, all of which possess desired magnetic properties in the bulk form. Our goal is to study and optimize these materials at nanoscale, so that the nanoparticles produced by ball milling the bulk materials can be made available for hyperthermia applications.
2016: The objective of this research effort is to identify the best suited materials for hyperthermia treatment of cancer. The idea is to inject the magnetic nano-particles in the cancer area and heat the cancer area using radio frequency heating/ microwave heating externally. The magnetic particles couple with the radio frequency heating quicker than the human body and generate local heating in the cancer area. The cancerous cells can be killed in the temperature range of 40-45 degrees C and normal cells can survive this temperature but can be damaged by overheating, therefore controlling the temperature is critical. We are therefore searching for materials which have the strongest possible magnetic strength but will lose their magnetic strength above 45 degrees C so that overheating may be avoided, and may work as a self-triggering heating switch. The temperature above which a magnetic material loses its magnetic strength is referred to as its Curie temperature. No natural substance has a Curie temperature of 45 degrees C but materials with such properties can be engineered. We have identified such materials as Gd5Si4, FeB, MnB, and FeMnB to possess desired magnetic properties in the bulk form. Our goal is to study and optimize these materials at nanoscale, so that the nanoparticles produced by ball milling the bulk materials can be made available for hyperthermia applications. To date, we have been able to demonstrate the hyperthermal action of FeB nanoparticles, as well as their biological compatibility.
2017: Comprehensive Project Summary (project ended June 2016):
The objective of this research effort is to identify the best suited materials for hyperthermia treatment of cancer. The idea is to inject the magnetic nano-particles in the cancer area and heat the cancer area using radio frequency heating/microwave heating externally. The magnetic particles couple with the radio frequency heating quicker than the human body and generate local heating in the cancer area. The cancerous cells can be killed in the temperature range of 40-45 degrees centigrade and normal cells can survive this temperature but can be damaged by overheating, therefore controlling the temperature is critical. We are therefore searching for materials which have the strongest possible magnetic strength but will lose their magnetic strength above 45 degree centigrade so that overheating may be avoided, and may work as a self-triggering heating switch. The temperature above which a magnetic material loses its magnetic strength is referred as its Curie temperature. No natural substance has a Curie temperature of 45 degree centigrade but materials with such properties can be engineered. We have identified such materials as Gd5Si4, FeB, MnB, and FeMnB to possess desired magnetic properties in the bulk form. Our goal is to study and optimize these materials at nanoscale, so that the nanoparticles produced by ball milling the bulk materials can be made available for hyperthermia applications. Up to date, we have been able to demonstrate the hyperthermal action of FeB nanoparticles, as well as their biological compatibility.
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