Scientists in the UK have created a new way to detect the spread of breast cancer in the body, using diamonds, titles Euronews.
When breast cancer spreads, the first that are affected are generally nearby lymph nodes. To identify the spreading cancer cells, doctors usually use radioactive markers or fluorescent paints to make them visible, thus intending the degree of metastasis.
However, the two methods also have disadvantages: there are patients who are allergic to paints, and certain hospitals do not have appropriate equipment for the necessary precautions in handling radioactive materials.
Scientists have built a new type of sensor, which they say offer a variant that is not radioactive nor toxic to the patient.
Thus, before the breast cancer operation or during the intervention, the doctors could inject a magnetic fluid into the patient’s tumor that aims to track the cancer cells in metastasis, circulating with them to the lymph nodes.
How does the new way of detecting cancer metastasis work?
To detect the magnetic fluid and identify the nodules with cancer cells, doctors would rely on a magnetic field sensor with a small diamond applied to the top. Diamonds that have unoccupied nitrogen centers or colored centers, which could detect the magnetic fields.
These color centers “would allow the diamond to ideally ideal in the magnetic field, causing them to catch a shade of pink,” said Gavin Morley, one of the study authors, but also physics professor at the University of Warwick.
