A team of researchers from The University of New Mexico and the Center for High Technology Materials (CHTM) recently published research about developing a quantum sensor to determine the chemical composition of trace quantities in samples.
This technology will be used to examine how medicine enters the cell. The sensor is comprised of nitrogen-vacancy defects in a diamond that detects the magnetic fields produced by the nuclei in molecules.
Victor Acosta, assistant professor of physics and astronomy and Joshua Damron, CHTM post-doctoral student said the research is done by shining a light through a solid object (diamond) into a liquid object (cells). This process is done with red light and is photographed with a special device. These images can then be viewed, showing the variety of shades of red.
Biochemistry is the area of study that will benefit the most from this research. Acosta and Damron began this project around ten years ago.
An area that presents as an obstacle is the physics of the research, the researchers said.
“The signals are very weak,” Darmon said. If there are 1 million cells with the light shining through, a response is only received from five to about 12 cells which are a problem for their research Darmon said. They are currently working on finding a solution for this.
This research may be dense, but according to the team, it will benefit the general public.
For example, if an MRI-- which typically takes about an hour to complete-- is needed, quantum sensor technology will cut the time down to about five minutes. Also, the results are expected to be more accurate with this technology.
Amy Coleman is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com.
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