# Nuclear magnetic resonance microscope based on diamond quantum sensors

> **NIH NIH DP2** · UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO · 2020 · $2,115,491

## Abstract

Project Summary
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is among the most powerful analytical techniques ever
invented. This has been recognized by, for example, the 6 Nobel Prizes awarded for NMR methods
development alone. However, the sensitivity and detection volumes in conventional NMR systems are
insufficient for metabolic analysis of picoliter sample volumes such as single mammalian cells. At the same
time, there is an acute need for non-invasive, label-free, chemically-specific techniques that operate at the
single-cell level and/or can be integrated into hyphenated microfluidic assays.
The proposed research seeks to develop a new platform for NMR spectroscopy and imaging at the scale of
single cells (picoliters). The platform is based on recently-developed sensors which use qubits (the logical bits
in quantum computers) to detect environmental parameters, so-called “quantum sensors”. Specifically,
fluorescent spin qubits in diamond are used to generate and detect nuclear magnetization. The hypothesis
underlying this proposal is that the use of non-inductive diamond quantum sensors could lead to improvements
in sensitivity, spectral resolution, spatial resolution, and microfluidic integration beyond what is currently
available in small-volume NMR spectroscopy. The PI’s lab has recently demonstrated a proof of concept by
embedding a diamond quantum sensor in a microfluidic chip and detecting two-dimensional NMR spectra of
picoliter volumes of fluid analytes. However ​substantial improvements in sensor spectral resolution and
sensitivity are required to quantify molecular composition at physiological concentrations with single-cell spatial
resolution. That is the goal of this proposal.
This is a high risk proposal and the outcomes of development efforts are unknown. However the proposed
research plan seeks to cover the following four objectives:
 1. The fractional spectral resolution of diamond NMR spectrometers will be improved to better than 10
 parts per billion. This will involve constructing an apparatus that operates at 3 tesla and developing
 diamond quantum sensing protocols optimized for this higher field.
2. The sensitivity of diamond NMR spectrometers will be improved to better than 10 millimolar
 (signal-to-noise ratio of 3 after 1 second integration). This involves rigorous optimization of the diamond
 sensor and developing methods to enhance nuclear spin polarization via optical hyperpolarization.
3. The molecular composition of complex mixtures of metabolites in solution will be quantified using an
 optimized diamond NMR spectrometer.
 4. A proof-of-principle experiment will be conducted to validate the imaging capabilities of diamond NMR.
 An NMR microscope will be constructed and used to characterize the conversion of pyruvate to lactic
 acid in breast cancer cells.
If successful, the demonstration of ​picoliter NMR metabolomics may have a substantial impact on analytical
biochemistry and single-cell biology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10002721
- **Project number:** 1DP2GM140921-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO
- **Principal Investigator:** Victor Marcel Acosta
- **Activity code:** DP2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $2,115,491
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-30 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10002721

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10002721, Nuclear magnetic resonance microscope based on diamond quantum sensors (1DP2GM140921-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10002721. Licensed CC0.

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