The aim of this project is to apply diamond magnetometry for drug delivery applications. An overview of the planned actions is given in the scheme. The first question that is important to answer here is how the polymer is degrading at the nanoscale. The second interesting issue is to see where the particles go within the cells while the polymer degrades and the drug is released. This could in principle also be done with conventional dyes. Our particles, however, have the advantage that they are not bleaching and thus can be used in lower concentrations (and thus reduce the unwanted influence of the dye). Additionally, since they are so photostable the particles can also be tracked for way longer than conventional dyes and continuous tracking and imaging can be done for days based on our homemade device. The third task is to perform magnetic measurements inside the cells. These magnetic measurements reveal the stress response of the cells towards the particles or the drugs in them. This information can be combined with tracking and gives detailed information about the success of the drug and where and when exactly it is released with single-cell and single-particle resolution.
Project involvement:
Runrun Li
Funded by:
Chinese Scholarship Council