Scientists have discovered an incredible new way to detect early cancerous tumors using diamonds.
A research team demonstrated a method for using a nanoscale, synthetic version of the gem to light up early-stage cancers during non-invasive Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans, the University of Sydney reported.
"We knew nano diamonds were of interest for delivering drugs during chemotherapy because they are largely non-toxic and non-reactive," said professor David Reilly from the School of Physics. "We thought we could build on these non-toxic properties realising that diamonds have magnetic characteristics enabling them to act as beacons in MRIs. We effectively turned a pharmaceutical problem into a physics problem."
The team accomplished this by focusing on hyperpolarizing nano-diamonds. This process requires the alignment of atoms inside a diamond, which creates a signal that can be detected by an MRI scanner.
"By attaching [hyperpolarized] diamonds to molecules targeting cancers the technique can allow tracking of the molecules' movement in the body," said Ewa Rej, the paper's lead author.
In the future, the team plans to work with medical researchers to test the new technology on animal models. They also hope to devise another unusual method that will allow them to use scorpion venom to spot brain tumors on MRI scans.
"This is a great example of how quantum physics research tackles real-world problems, in this case opening the way for us to image and target cancers long before they become life-threatening," Reilly concluded.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the journal Nature Communications.
