| dc.description.abstract | The later stages of malignant growths are characterized by a severe and progressive depression in the blood
haemoglobin level. Iron is essential for virtually all living organisms and participates in a wide variety of
metabolic processes, including oxygen transport and electron transport. As such, ions of Fe2+ and O2 are
strong paramagnetic, but linked together their complex shows week paramagnetic (0.15 nT) or diamagnetic
properties. As all matter consists of atoms that contain particles with an electric charge, our body and
everything around us is magnetic.
In this study, a methodology usually used in rock magnetism was applied to evaluate the magnetic properties
of the human tissue. We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, usage of the dual speed spinner
magnetometer, with accuracy 2.4 A/m (3pT), for measuring difference of remanent magnetism (gap)
between healthy and cancer colon tissue. The ex vivo experiment was conducted on 76 samples (from 39
patients) immediately after bowel resection. Tissue samples were taken from patients of both sexes, different
ages, and with confirmed histopathological colorectal carcinoma. The results indicate differences between
normal mucosa (healthy tissue) and cancer with average values of 0.91775±0.046 mA/m (1.153 nT) for
healthy tissue and 0.17441 ± 0.009 mA/m (0.219 nT) for cancer, and confirm the existence of differences in
the measurement of paramagnetic and diamagnetic properties of healthy and cancerous tissue. Bearing in
mind that the number of 32 samples is good for preliminary research but not good enough for clinical
application, further studies are necessary. | sr |
