The effect of laser irradiation on survivability of breast canser cells sensitised with gold nanoparticles

Breast cancer is among the major killer diseases for women. Currently chemotherapy is the common method used for such cancer treatment. The drawback with this technique is that it kills both normal and cancerous cells. As a result not many cancer patients can survive after the treatment. Thus, alternative techniques need to be considered. The aim of this project is to introduce laser radiation instead of x-ray for cancer treatment. In order to further enhance the hyperthermia effect, gold nanoparticles (AuNP) are injected to couple with cancerous cell. In this work, laser irradiation with three different wavelengths were used for the treatment namely, 1064 nm, and 532 nm produced by Q-switched Nd:YAG laser and 248 nm produced by Krypton Fluoride Excimer laser. AuNPs were produced using pulse laser ablation in liquid technique. The AuNP diameter was varied in the range of 8-18 nm and concentration was prepared by serial dilution within the range of 0.14-4.50 μg/ml. Three different human breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, and MDA-kb2) and a Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) non-cancerous cell were used to study the cell survivability towards hyperthermia effect with and without the presence of AuNPs. The cell survivability was determined using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and analyzed using GloMax Multi Microplate Multimode Reader. The results show that survivability rate of MDA-MB-231 cell was 84 percent after treated with 1064 nm laser compared to 74 percent after treated with 532 nm laser. UV radiation from Excimer laser is found to increase the cell survivability rate up to 157 percent. The survivability rate of CHO cell treated with 532 nm laser dropped by 9 percent compared to those of MDA-MB-231, MDAMB- 468 and MDA-kb2 cells which decreased by more than 20 percent after the treatment. The total number of survival cell decreases with the presence of AuNPs. The results indicate that higher concentration and smaller size of AuNPs minimized the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell survivability. Therefore, hyperthermia effect can be enhanced by using laser irradiation sensitized with AuNP and has great potential for treating cancer

The effect of laser irradiation on the viability of breast cancer cell, MDA-MB-231

Laser phototherapy is used in the breast cancer clinical treatment, despite the limited safety information of laser irradiation effect on the cancer cell behavior. This study contributed on the development of guidelines for safer laser usage in treating breast cancer and minimizing the possibility of activating post-mastectomy lymphedema

Analysing heavy metals using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy technique

Analyzing heavy metals in polluted water using conventional method by chemical technique is difficult because sample preparation involves a lot of chemical. As an alternative to overcome the drawback, laser induced breakdown spectroscopy is introduced. The aims of this project is to analyze heavy metals commonly found in sea water using a q-switched Nd:YAG laser. The laser was focused using two lenses, concave lens was used to diverge the beam and then bring to merge by camera lens with wide angle of 28 mm focal length. An optical breakdown occurred associated with plasma formation at the focal point. Heavy metal sample comprised of solid form and powder. The powder sample was deposited on glass slide by PVD technique. The heavy metal sample was located at the focal point in the air and exposed by laser in repetitive mode with frequency of 10 Hz. The plume plasma formation on the metal sample was visualized using CCD camera. The spectrum produced after laser-metal interactions were recorded via spectrum analyzer. The line spectra were manifested on the screen and analyzed by comparing to data base. Each line represents the element contained in the tested metal. The highest signal indicates the major element contains from the tested heavy metal. Finally, the analyzed heavy metals were summarized in a histogram for comparison purposes