Physicists from the University of Sydney have devised a way to use diamonds to identify cancerous tumours before they become life threatening.
Their findings, published recently in Nature Communications, reveal how a
Targeting cancers with tailored chemicals is not new but scientists struggle to detect where these chemicals go since, short of a biopsy, there are few ways to see if a treatment has been
Led by Professor David Reilly from the School of Physics, researchers from the University investigated how nanoscale diamonds could help identify cancers in their earliest stages.
«We knew nano diamonds were of interest for delivering drugs during chemotherapy because they are largely
«We thought we could build on these
Professor Reilly’s team turned its attention to hyperpolarising
«By attaching hyperpolarised diamonds to molecules targeting cancers the technique can allow tracking of the molecules' movement in the body," says Ewa Rej, the paper’s lead author.
«This is a great example of how quantum physics research tackles
The next stage of the team’s work involves working with medical researchers to test the new technology on animals. Also on the horizon is research using scorpion venom to target brain tumours with MRI scanning.
The research documented in the paper Hyperpolarized Nanodiamond with Long Spin Relaxation Times was done by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems at the University’s School of Physics.
Read more on http://sydney.edu.au/
