According to foreign media reports, scientists have found a way to create and cancel a magnetic field from a distance : passing an electric current through a special wire device can generate a magnetic field source like a magnetic field from elsewhere. .
This illusion has its practical application: Capsules made of magnetic nanoparticles are wrapped with anti-cancer drugs, and the drugs are directly delivered to tumors deep in the body. It is almost impossible to place a magnet on the tumor site to guide the progress of the nanoparticles. But if we can create a magnetic field outside the human body with the tumor as the center, then we can skip the invasive process and directly give medicine.
The strength of the magnetic field decreases as the distance from the magnet increases. And, Ensho’s theorem proved in 1842 stated that it is impossible to produce the maximum magnetic field strength in an empty space.
“If you can’t generate the maximum magnetic field in an empty space, then this also means that unless there is an actual magnetic field source at the target location, you can’t create a magnetic field remotely,” Rosa Mach, responsible for the new research- Butler said. Butler is currently a physicist at the Italian Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnology.
However, Matt Butler and her colleagues believe that they may be able to solve this problem. In an optical study, researchers used a type of engineering material called “metamaterial” (with properties not possessed by natural materials) to break through the resolution limitation brought by light waves. Inspired by this optical research, Matt Butler and his colleagues suspected that hypothetical magnetic materials might also make the impossible in a magnetic field possible.
They envisioned a material with a permeability of minus 1. The permeability of a material indicates the ability of the material to increase or decrease the magnetic field in a magnetic field. When the magnetic permeability of the material is negative 1, the direction of magnetization induced in the material will be exactly opposite to the direction of the initial magnetic field.
Of course, relying on a non-existent material to induce a magnetic field, this new method is not particularly useful. But even if there is no such hypothetical material with negative permeability, physicists can still create a temporary “material”: passing current through a set of carefully designed wires. Because electric current can produce a magnetic field, and vice versa, this is the result of Maxwell’s electromagnetic equations.
“In the end, we didn’t use any materials, but instead used a set of carefully designed currents that could be considered as active metamaterials,” Mach-Butler said.
In order to create a magnetic field remotely, Mach-Butler and her team designed a hollow cylinder composed of 20 wires surrounding a long internal wire. When current flows through these wires, a magnetic field is generated, which looks as if the long internal wire is outside the device. In fact, the source of the magnetic field is not outside the device, but the magnetic field itself and the magnetic field generated by the external magnetic field source are indistinguishable.
“We created this illusion to make the source of the magnetic field appear to be far away,” Mach Butler said.
However, the application value of this method in the real world is still unclear. One weird thing about this system is that there is a very strong magnetic field between the cylindrical wire and the distant magnetic field. Mach-Butler said that this area will interfere with some of the applications in the study, but whether this is a problem may depend on the researchers’ application of the magnetic field.
In addition to drug delivery, possible applications of this new method include remote cancellation of magnetic fields. In the field of quantum computing, this technology helps eliminate “noise” generated by external magnetic fields, which can interfere with experimental measurements. Another application may be to improve transcranial magnetic stimulation. Transcranial magnetic stimulation uses magnets to stimulate neurons in the brain to treat depression. Remote control of the magnetic field can improve the accuracy of transcranial magnetic stimulation, so doctors can observe specific areas of the human brain more accurately.
The researchers next hope to design a wire device to remotely generate a 3D magnetic field.
For more such interesting article like this, app/softwares, games, Gadget Reviews, comparisons, troubleshooting guides, listicles, and tips & tricks related to Windows, Android, iOS, and macOS, follow us on Google News, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest.