Investigation of Fullerene Exposure of Breast Cancer Cells by Time-Gated Scanning Microwave Microscopy

Nanoparticles are receiving increasing attention as carriers of active drugs or biochemical signals. Among them, fullerene
C
₆₀
is particularly attractive since its cage structure helps it to carry other molecules and its lipophilicity helps it to penetrate through a cell membrane. This paper explores the potential of time-gated broadband near-field scanning microwave microscopy for detecting fullerene inside Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 breast cancer cells. It demonstrates measurement of relative variation of electromagnetic properties across the sample surface, while explaining the difficulty for measurement of absolute electromagnetic properties. The results are compared with scanning capacitance microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and scanning tunneling microscopy performed on the same samples.