Hamza Musa N, Tariqul Islam Mohammad, Lavadiya Sunil, Ud Din Iftikhar, Sanches Bruno, Koziel Slawomir, Iffat Naqvi Syeda, Farmani Ali, Islam Md Shabiul
Department of Physics, College of Science, University of Raparin, Sulaymaniyah, Iraq.
Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Department of Electrical, Electronic and Systems Engineering, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
PLoS One. 2025 Jan 9;20(1):e0313874. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0313874. eCollection 2025.
Cancer and its diverse variations pose one of the most significant threats to human health and well-being. One of the most aggressive forms is blood cancer, originating from bone marrow cells and disrupting the production of normal blood cells. The incidence of blood cancer is steadily increasing, driven by both genetic and environmental factors. Therefore, early detection is crucial as it enhances treatment outcomes and improves success rates. However, accurate diagnosis is challenging due to the inherent similarities between normal and cancerous cells. Although various techniques are available for blood cancer identification, high-frequency imaging techniques have recently shown promise, particularly for real-time monitoring. Notably, terahertz (THz) frequencies offer unique advantages for biomedical applications. This research proposes an innovative terahertz metamaterial-based biosensor for high-efficacy blood cancer detection. The proposed structure is ultra-compact and operates across five bands within the range of 0.6 to 1.2 THz. It is constructed using a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) dielectric layer and two aluminum (Al) layers, with the top layer serving as a base for the THz-range resonator. Careful design, architectural arrangement, and optimization of the geometry parameters allow for achieving nearly perfect absorption rates (>95%) across all operating bands. The properties of the proposed sensor are extensively evaluated through full-wave electromagnetic (EM) analysis, which includes assessing the refractive index and the distribution of the electric field at individual working frequencies. The suitability for blood cancer diagnosis has been validated by integrating the sensor into a microwave imaging (MWI) system and conducting comprehensive simulation studies. These studies underscore the device's capability to detect abnormalities, particularly in distinguishing between healthy and cancerous cells. Benchmarking against state-of-the-art biosensors in recent literature indicates that the proposed sensor is highly competitive in terms of major performance indicators while maintaining a compact size.
癌症及其多种变体对人类健康和福祉构成了最重大的威胁之一。其中最具侵袭性的形式之一是血癌，它起源于骨髓细胞，会扰乱正常血细胞的生成。由于遗传和环境因素的共同作用，血癌的发病率正在稳步上升。因此，早期检测至关重要，因为它能提高治疗效果并提升成功率。然而，由于正常细胞和癌细胞之间存在固有的相似性，准确诊断具有挑战性。尽管有多种技术可用于血癌识别，但高频成像技术最近显示出了前景，特别是在实时监测方面。值得注意的是，太赫兹（THz）频率在生物医学应用中具有独特优势。本研究提出了一种基于太赫兹超材料的创新型生物传感器，用于高效检测血癌。所提出的结构超紧凑，可在0.6至1.2太赫兹范围内的五个频段工作。它由聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯（PET）介电层和两个铝（Al）层构成，顶层作为太赫兹频段谐振器的基础。通过精心设计、架构布局和优化几何参数，可在所有工作频段实现近乎完美的吸收率（>95%）。通过全波电磁（EM）分析对所提出传感器的特性进行了广泛评估，其中包括评估单个工作频率下的折射率和电场分布。通过将该传感器集成到微波成像（MWI）系统中并进行全面的模拟研究，验证了其对血癌诊断的适用性。这些研究强调了该设备检测异常的能力，特别是在区分健康细胞和癌细胞方面。与近期文献中的先进生物传感器进行对比表明，所提出的传感器在主要性能指标方面具有高度竞争力，同时保持了紧凑的尺寸。
