Extended use of superconducting magnets for bio-medical development

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential of using superconducting magnets combined with electric fields to improve cancer treatment methods, reviewing possible configurations and their feasibility.

Contribution

It proposes new approaches for generating electric fields within magnetic fields for biomedical applications, especially cancer therapy, based on existing magnet systems.

Findings

Strong magnetic fields can influence cell orientation and division.

Electric fields can effectively destroy dividing cancer cells.

Various magnet configurations are feasible for biomedical electric field generation.

Abstract

Magnetic fields interact with biological cells affecting them in variety of ways which are usually hard to predict. Among them, it was observed that strong fields can align dividing cells in a preferred direction. It was also demonstrated that dividing cancer cells are effectively destroyed by applying electric fields in vivo with a success rate dependent on the cell-to-field orientation. Based on these facts, the present note aims to suggest the use of magnetic and electric fields for improved cancer treatment. Several possibilities of generating the electric fields inside the magnetic field volume are reviewed, main tentative approaches are described and discussed. Most if not all of them require special magnet configuration research which can be based on existing magnet systems in operation or in development.