Quantum Imaging of Living Tissues with Magnetic Nanoparticles – An Interdisciplinary Novel Approach

• Applicants: Professor Dr.-Ing. Roland Nagy; Professorin Dr. Regine Schneider-Stock; Privatdozent Dr. Rainer Tietze
• Subject Area: Medical Physics, Biomedical Technology ; Electronic Semiconductors, Components and Circuits, Integrated Systems, Sensor Technology, Theoretical Electrical Engineering
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 507241320

One of the greatest challenges for clinicians, oncologists, and researchers in this century is the fight against cancer. The major goal of cancer therapy is to prevent tumor cell dissemination, the initial step in the metastatic cascade as about 90% of all cancer deaths are related to metastasis. Exemplarily, in case of colon cancer if the cancer has spread to surrounding tissues, the 5-year survival rate is 71%. If it has spread to distant parts of the body, the 5-year survival rate drops down to only 14%. Tracing the invasion of single cancer cells into the surrounding tumor microenvironment would help to understand this complex process of metastasis initiation. Most traditional invasion models lack a tumor-specific microenvironment and complex animal experimentation is still needed. Precision cut tissue slices (PCTS) could represent a versatile and robust ex vivo model with preserved multicellular histoarchitecture. This model also fulfills the 3R criteria to replace, reduce or to refine animal experiments whenever possible. The general feasibility of PCTS for tracing fluorescence-labeled cells has been shown in a model of lung regeneration Nevertheless, the detection of single cell movement in vivo and in real-time over a long period is so far unachieved. A promising solution to this issue is the relatively new research field of applied quantum sensing. Compared to classical sensors Quantum sensing offers a better magnetic field sensitivity, no calibration requirements and a huge dynamic magnetic field range at ambient conditions. Furthermore, quantum sensors like the NV-center in diamond are already very well established and ready to use for applications as an applied quantum sensor. We believe therefore, that quantum sensing can be an important part in the field of cancer research. We are aiming in our proposed research project to utilize the outstanding properties of the NV-center in diamond as a quantum sensor to precisely characterize the invasion potential of cancer cells by tracing their paths and to describe how their interaction with immune cells triggers or inhibits the dissemination. To realize the proposed project we will label single cancer cells with SPIONs and track their migration inside the colon PCTS with NV-centers in diamond.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants