Nanoparticle mediated thermal ablation of breast cancer cells using a nanosecond pulsed electric field.

In the past, ablation of cancer cells using radiofrequency heating techniques has been demonstrated, but the current methodology has many flaws, including inconsistent tumor ablation and significant ablation of normal cells. Other researchers have begun to develop a treatment that is more selective for cancer cells using metallic nanoparticles and constant electric field exposure. In these studies, cell necrosis is induced by heating antibody functionalized metallic nanoparticles attached to cancer cells. Our approach to studying this phenomenon is to use similarly functionalized metallic nanoparticles that are specific for the T47D breast cancer cell line, exposing these nanoparticle cell conjugates to a nanosecond pulsed electric field. Using fluorescent, polystyrene-coated, iron-oxide nanoparticles, the results of our pilot study indicated that we were able to ablate up to approximately 80% of the cells using 60 ns pulses in increasing numbers of pulses and up to approximately 90% of the cells using 300 ns pulses in increasing numbers of pulses. These quantities of ablated cells were achieved using a cumulative exposure time 6 orders of magnitude less than most in vitro constant electric field studies.

Growth characteristics of mung beans and water convolvuluses exposed to 425-MHz electromagnetic fields.

Effects of high-frequency, continuous wave (CW) electromagnetic fields on mung beans (Vigna radiata L.) and water convolvuluses (Ipomoea aquatica Forssk.) were studied at different growth stages (pre-sown seed and early seedling). Specifically, the effects of the electromagnetic source's power and duration (defined as power-duration level) on the growth of the two species were studied. Mung beans and water convolvuluses were exposed to electromagnetic fields inside a specially designed chamber for optimum field absorption, and the responses of the seeds to a constant frequency at various power levels and durations of exposure were monitored. The frequency used in the experiments was 425 MHz, the field strengths were 1 mW, 100 mW, and 10 W, and the exposure durations were 1, 2, and 4 h. Results show that germination enhancement is optimum for the mung beans at 100 mW/1 h power-duration level, while for water convolvuluses the optimum germination power-duration level was 1 mW/2 h. When both seed types were exposed at the early sprouting phase with their respective optimum power-duration levels for optimum seed growth, water convolvuluses showed growth enhancement while mung bean sprouts showed no effects. Water content analysis of the seeds suggests thermal effects only at higher field strength.