MEMS Based Diagnosis of Breast Cancer

Abstract

Based on the fact that the chemical, geometrical and other biophysical characteristics effect the electrical response of cells and tissues, a sensor is proposed which could be utilized for diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer as an economic and easy to use sensor. Endeavor has been made to model an in vitro sensor for early diagnosis of breast cancer considering sample data of normal breast cells (MCF-10A), less invasive cancer breast cells (MCF-7 & T47D) and highly invasive cancer breast cells (MDA-MB-231 & HS-578T). The simulation is done in COMSOL Multiphysics environment to find the impedance and capacitance of the cells with and without culture medium so as to characterize the types of cells. It is found that the impedance decreases sharply from 0.2 to 1 GHz and the normal breast cells could be distinguished from their cancer counter parts by comparing their electrical impedance and capacitance within the given frequency range. Apart from distinguishing normal breast cells from their cancer counterparts, the types of breast cancer cell types could also be determined by the differences in their frequency responses.