📋 Tender Overview
Quantum Hyperpolarisation For Ultrasensitive Nuclear Magnetic Resonance And Imaging
Magnetic Resonance Advances Could Help Reveal The Metabolic Signatures Of Diseasesscientists Working On Nuclear Magnetic Resonance And Magnetic Resonance Imaging Are Prominent Examples Of How Interdisciplinary Collaboration Can Benefit Science And Society. The Fields Have Led To Significant Advances In A Wide Range Of Disciplines From Chemistry To Life Sciences. However, The Low Inherent Sensitivity Of The Methods Makes Their Extension To The Nanoscale, And Therefore The Observation Of Metabolic Processes, Impossible. To Address This Challenge, The Eu-Funded Hyperq Project Will Pioneer Methods To Control Solid-State Spins At Room Temperature. This Will Increase Nuclear Spin Polarisation Several Orders Of Magnitude Above Thermal Equilibrium And Thereby Revolutionise State-Of-The-Art Magnetic Resonance. The Hyperq Technology Will Help Reveal The Metabolic Signatures Of A Broad Range Of Diseases Including Cancer, Alzheimer’S And Other Neurodegenerative Disorders.
Funded Under
Excellent Science - European Research Council (Erc)
Total Cost
€ 9 374 860,00
Eu Contribution
€ 9 374 860,00
Coordinated By
Universitaet Ulm
Germany
Start Date
1 July 2020
End Date
30 June 2027
Objective
Many of the most remarkable contributions of modern science to society have arisen from the interdisciplinary work of scientists enabling novel methods of imaging and sensing. Outstanding examples are nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which have enabled fundamental insights in a broad range of sciences extending from Chemistry to the Life Sciences. However, the key challenge of NMR and MRI is their very low inherent sensitivity due to the weak nuclear spin polarisation under ambient conditions. This makes the extension of magnetic resonance to the nanoscale (small volumes) and to the observation of metabolic processes (low concentrations) impossible.
HyperQ will address this challenge with the development of room-temperature quantum control of solid-state spins to increase nuclear spin polarisation several orders of magnitude above thermal equilibrium and thereby revolutionise the state-of-the-art of magnetic resonance. Essential for this development is the synergy of an interdisciplinary team of world leaders in quantum control and hyperpolarised magnetic resonance to enable the development of quantum control theory ( Quantum Software ), quantum materials ( Quantum Hardware ), their integration ( Quantum Devices ) and applications to biological and medical imaging ( Medical Quantum Applications ). HyperQ will target major breakthroughs in the field of magnetic resonance, which include chip-integrated hyperpolarisation devices designed to operate in combination with portable magnetic resonance quantum sensors, unprecedented sensitivity of bio-NMR at the nanoscale, and biomarkers of deranged cellular metabolism.
The HyperQ technology will pr
