Pure nanodiamonds using quantum technology enable disease prediction with unprecedented accuracy | Technologies

One of the biggest challenges in the application of microscopic physics—noise—has enabled the creation of the most promising development in precision and preventive medicine: quantum sensors. Any interaction changes the state of the particle, and this instability is one of the biggest limitations of calculations in this science, which must control or correct for it. However, Javier Prior, a physicist from the University of Murcia, specialized in biology, thermodynamics and quantum sensors, has transformed this…

One of the biggest challenges in the application of microscopic physics—noise—has enabled the creation of the most promising development in precision and preventive medicine: quantum sensors. Any interaction changes the state of the particle, and this instability is one of the biggest limitations of calculations in this science, which must control or correct for it. However, Javier Prior, a physicist at the University of Murcia, specialized in biology, thermodynamics and quantum sensors, has turned this shortcoming into a huge opportunity to open up an unprecedented field, detecting any changes at the smallest cellular level in the first steps. Nanometer-sized pure diamonds serve as a container for particles that react to any anomaly in the development of the smallest biological units, and make it possible to identify dysfunction at the initial stage or in the microfluidics of the body. It is a microscopic beacon that sends signals when it detects the first physical and chemical signs of an incipient cellular storm.

Pryor heads the group, whose members he met after studying at the universities of Oxford, Imperial College and Ulm. These are mainly Fedor Zhelezko, a pioneer of NV diamonds (vacancy nitrogen), and Alex Retzker, a sensor expert. This relationship and a patent on microfluidics based on quantum sensors (which allows optical reading of reactions in minimal amounts of liquid or gaseous substances) opened a new door that led to the creation of Qlab, an initiative that combines research with business and is working towards possible support from the Ministry of Digital Transformation.

It’s complicated, but Pryor is trying to simplify years of research: “We have a device that is very sensitive to certain external influences. We are creating a quantum system. I take an electron and use ultra-fast pulses to put it into a superposition where it spins in one direction, which is known as rotate (rotation in English), although in fact it is not a rotation, but the opposite at the same time. Since any quantum state is very sensitive to the action of any electric or magnetic field or other physical parameter, we use it as a compass. If you bring a magnet to it, the needle will move and align itself with the magnetic field. “My sensor detects the slightest magnetic fields and works at room temperature.”

The carrier of this sensor, capable of detecting the slightest signal, is a diamond with an atomic particle nine nanometers from the surface (a nanometer is one billionth of a meter (10⁻⁹)—. “We make diamonds synthetic because natural diamonds have many impurities (which can affect the quantum system), and we want them to be very pure, since we are only interested in carbon-12 atoms. We create them through chemical vapor deposition: plasma is generated layer by layer to embed the quantum particle.” accelerates and rushes towards the diamond. “Depending on the speed and how you throw it, they will go, let’s say, a certain distance,” he notes, trying to sum up the complex process.

The next step is to transfer the nanodiamond, which is completely biocompatible, into a cell in a Petri dish using optical tweezers, two lasers that capture the device: “So it can be introduced into a part of the cell and detect if a protein associated with inflammation is generated. It’s like inserting a camera that constantly monitors the molecules.” And he gives an example: “Free radicals do not have the same number of electrons as protons and are triggers for aging or many diseases, such as degenerative processes, because they steal particles from their neighbors.”

Its application in the body can be done by implantation, injection, or simply, in the case of the brain, by using a helmet that covers it and measures the electrical fields of neurons.

Qlab, the company that emerged from this research, is developing another quantum sensor concept known as Laboratory on a chip, mini devices with laboratory functions capable of analyzing a microfluidic sample of the body with the same quantum principles and which could become domestic. In this case, a 100 nanometer channel will be created in the diamond to guide microsamples, allowing for an accurate result similar to a blood test or biopsy.

Given the necessary funding, with talk of public and private investment already underway, Pryor is confident he can develop semi-commercial prototypes of quantum sensors within five years. In addition to these precision and preventative medical beacons, the same quantum technology can be applied to create a nuclear magnetic resonator that will emit a specific signal when the frequency matches that of what is being analyzed.

The quantum field is vast and Prior believes that Spain, in collaboration with other institutions, has the opportunity to develop a strategic area that is already key and on which surrounding countries are betting. The devices and technologies already exist and are proven, but the next step is missing: institutional and private participation in a technology that is projected to grow in double digits.

Other achievements

There are many laboratories involved in this race to control and exploit quantum states, in which Spain can compete for a good starting position. A team of researchers led by Professor Nobuhiro Yanai from Kyushu University achieved quantum coherence (state maintenance) for more than 100 nanoseconds at room temperature, according to a study published in the journal Science achievements. The discovery was made possible by a chromophore, a molecule that absorbs light and emits color, in a metal-organic fluid (MOF).

“The developed MOF is a unique system capable of densely accumulating chromophores. In addition, the nanopores inside the crystal allow the chromophore to rotate, but at a very limited angle,” explains Yanai. This discovery is also relevant for sensor technologies. “This could open the door to molecular quantum computing at room temperature, as well as quantum detection of various target compounds,” he says.

Kayden Hazzard, professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and co-author of the study published in Physics of nature. The experiment was able to extend quantum behavior by almost 30 times (by 1.5 seconds) by using ultra-cold temperatures and laser wavelengths to create a “trap” that delayed the onset of decoherence.

“If you want to create new materials, new sensors or other quantum technologies, you need to understand what happens at the quantum level, and this research is a step towards achieving new knowledge,” he explains.

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