| Developers: | Tokyo Institute of Technology |
| Date of the premiere of the system: | August 2022 |
| Branches: | Pharmaceuticals, Medicine, Healthcare |
2022: Quantum sensor announcement with record sensitivity for heart diagnosis
On August 23, 2022, it became known that a team of scientists led by Associate Professor Takayuki Iwasaki from Tokyo Institute of Technology created a higher resolution magnetocardiography (MCG) device. Their development is based on a diamond quantum sensor consisting of NV centers, which act as special magnetic "centers" sensitive to weak magnetic fields created by heart currents.
The MCG is an alternative to indirect measurement of cardiac currents. This method involves detecting minute changes in the magnetic field near the heart caused by heart currents, which can be done in a completely non-contact way. To this end, various types of quantum sensors suitable for this purpose have been developed. However, their spatial resolution is limited to centimeter scales: this is not enough to detect cardiac currents that propagate on millimeter scales. Moreover, each of these sensors has many practical limitations, such as size and operating temperature.
The research team created an MCG setup using a 532 nm (green) laser to excite a diamond sensor and a photodiode to capture re-emitted photons (particles of light). They also developed mathematical models to accurately map these captured photons to their respective magnetic fields, and in turn to the heart currents responsible for them.
With an unprecedented spatial resolution of 5.1 mm, the proposed system can produce detailed two-dimensional maps of cardiac currents measured in the hearts of laboratory rats. In addition, the diamond sensor can operate at room temperature, which distinguishes it from other MCG sensors that require cryogenic temperatures. This allowed the researchers to position the sensor very close to the heart tissue, which amplified the signals being measured.
 | The benefits of our contactless sensor, combined with our current models, will allow for more accurate observations of cardiac defects with small mammalian animal models, says Dr. Iwasaki. Our technique will allow us to study the occurrence and development of various cardiac arrhythmias, as well as other biological phenomena caused by current, he notes.[1] |  |
Notes
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