Photonic Crystal Fiber-Based Refractive Index Sensor for Early Detection of Cancer

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel cancer sensor based on dual core photonic crystal fiber for the detection of cancer cells in cervical, breast, and basal parts. The samples are taken in fluid form and infiltrated into the farmed cavity using selective infiltration method. Each fluid form has its own refractive index values which give the various responses in the transmission and loss spectrum. The spectral shift is obtained by inducing the coupling mechanism between silica core and cancer cell core for its launching input optical field which is investigated by finite element method. The proposed structure is also optimized with its structural dimensional property for enhancing the sensitivity. The sensing performances for the cervical cancer cell are obtained as high as 7916 nm/RIU for x-polarization and 10625 nm/RIU for y-polarization with the detection limit of 0.024. The sensitivity to breast cancer cells for xand y-polarization is 5714.28 and 7857.14 nm/RIU, respectively, with detection limit of 0.014. Similarly, the sensitivity to basal cells can also reach 4500 nm/RIU for x-polarization and 6000 nm/RIU for y-polarization. To the best of our knowledge, such sensitivities are the highest reported thus so far.