Vertical · Life sciences
Two quantum reads of the living world.
The same NV-diamond core reads biology two different ways: molecular binding by chip-scale magnetic resonance, and free-radical activity by relaxometry inside living cells. Both sit on a material almost no one has explored. A direction we are developing with research partners.
The domain
Molecular binding, and the noise of a living cell.
Two distinct physics, one diamond core. One reads chemistry; one reads a window on free-radical activity.
Chip-scale NMR miniaturises nuclear magnetic resonance: a shallow sensor reads the nuclear spins of a molecule sitting on a surface, reporting binding and relaxation in the mass-limited, picolitre regime where a conventional coil cannot reach. Relaxometry works differently: a fluorescent nanodiamond inside a living cell has its coherence shortened by the magnetic noise of nearby radicals, tracking reactive-oxygen-species flux in real time, without consuming a probe.
Why NV-diamond
Where coils and dyes cannot go.
Mass-limited
The sensor is strong exactly where a coil is weak: on a surface, in a picolitre, near a single molecule.
Inside living cells
A biocompatible nanodiamond sits inside a cell and reports without being consumed, so the same cell can be watched over time.
Label-free flux
It senses a magnetic signature directly, reporting a local flux rather than requiring a chemical label.
Room temperature
No cryogenics: the physics runs at ambient conditions, on the bench.
Our approach
A better sensing element, and an honest readout.
We bring two layers the field is missing. A coherence-certified nanodiamond, whose properties are specified rather than left to chance, lifts every measurement above it. And a readout layer turns a noisy sensor trace into a reading with honest uncertainty, rather than a curve fitted by hand. We say what the physics allows, and we are explicit about what it does not: relaxometry senses a magnetic flux, not a chemical assay.
Where we are
Pre-prototype, and collaborative by design.
The strongest version of this is built with the research ecosystem: we bring the design engine and the readout; academic partners in diamond fabrication, surface chemistry and structural NMR bring the cleanroom and the biological ground truth. The recipes and the engine stay ours; the science is joint. Every figure is model-derived.
Questions
The basics, answered.
What is chip-scale NMR?
Chip-scale NMR miniaturises nuclear magnetic resonance from a room-sized instrument to a sensor on a chip. Using nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond, it reads the nuclear spins of molecules in very small, mass-limited volumes such as a surface layer or a picolitre of sample, a regime that is out of reach for conventional inductive coils.
What is quantum biosensing with nanodiamonds?
Fluorescent nanodiamonds containing nitrogen-vacancy centres act as quantum sensors inside living cells. Through T1 relaxometry, the sensor's coherence is shortened by the magnetic noise of nearby paramagnetic radicals, letting researchers track reactive-oxygen-species (ROS) activity in real time, without consuming a chemical probe.
Does nanodiamond relaxometry measure an absolute concentration?
No. It senses a local magnetic flux from radical activity, best understood as a flux or variation in the micromolar regime rather than an absolute nanomolar concentration. Treating the signal as a flux, and being explicit about that, is what keeps the measurement honest.
Why is NV-diamond suited to life-science sensing?
NV-diamond works at room temperature, is biocompatible, and is strongest in the mass-limited regime, on a surface, in a picolitre, or inside a single cell, where conventional NMR coils and consumable fluorescent dyes cannot operate.
A research or industrial collaboration in life sciences?
We work with groups in structural biology, diamond fabrication and surface chemistry. Tell us what you are trying to measure.
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