Resonance-Induced Therapeutic Technique for Skin Cancer Cells

Objective

This study aims to evaluate the viability of a hypothesis for selective targeting of skin cancer cells by exploiting the spectral gap with healthy cells using analytical and numerical simulation.

Methods

The spectral gap was first identified using a viscoelastic dynamic model, with the physical and mechanical properties of healthy and cancerous skin cells deduced from previous experimental studies conducted on cell lines. The outcome of the analytical simulation was verified numerically using modal and harmonic analysis. Finally, transient analyses were conducted analytically and numerically to evaluate the difference in vibrational response of healthy and cancerous cells when their resonant frequencies were closely matched. For analysis, we used healthy nucleus diameters of 3 µm, 5 µm and 7 µm, whereas 34 kPa was taken as the stiffness of healthy skin epithelial cells. Based on established trends, the nucleus-to-cytoplasm ratio was utilised to predict physical and mechanical properties as cells undergo neoplastic transformation.

Results

Analytical and numerical simulation revealed an approximate frequency difference of 50–100 KHz for the different nucleus diameters. The transient simulation revealed a significant difference in the growth rate of cancer cells' vibration amplitude, which was 10 times greater than that of healthy cells.

Conclusions

This study highlights that cancer cells are more prone to resonance with tuned ultrasound frequencies, emphasising the need for detailed dynamic models incorporating the basement membrane's influence and experimental validation.