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QUANTUM DIAMOND TECHNOLOGIES INC

Address

1466 MAIN ST
WALTHAM, MA, 02451-1623
USA

UEI: K94NGTLP6LM6

Number of Employees: 5

HUBZone Owned: No

Woman Owned: No

Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No

SBIR/STTR Involvement

Year of first award: 2012

Phase I Awards

Phase II Awards

66.67%

Conversion Rate

$455,566

Phase I Dollars

$1,300,000

Phase II Dollars

$1,755,566

Total Awarded

Awards

Up to 10 of the most recent awards are being displayed. To view all of this company's awards, visit the Award Data search page.

SBIR Phase I: Quantum Diamond Sensors with Rapid Sample Transfer for High-Throughput Magnetic Bioassays

Amount: $225,000 Topic: IT

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to enable the high sample testing throughput necessary for quantum magnetic bioassay technology to be used for medical diagnostics, precision health and point of care patient care. Ultrasensitive detection of low-concentration biomarkers, many of which are currently undetectable by existing technology, offers new diagnostic capability for improved clinical decisions and better patient health. Existing high-sensitivity diagnostic instruments are very complex to use, expensive and require lengthy sample processing steps - all of which increase health care costs. A new class of magnetic-based assays combining high sensitivity and low sample processing using NV diamond quantum sensors has been developed. Magnetic assay platforms can deliver equivalent results to current biomarker assays faster and at significantly lower cost. A dramatic reduction in sample processing, combined with direct detection of magnetic tags, will provide rapid test results, a critical component for point of care diagnostics. A remaining challenge for this approach is delivering bioassay samples to the sensor quickly and repeatedly - a challenge to be addressed in this project. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a rapid sample transfer mechanism to enhance the sample throughput of bioassays using a quantum magnetic sensor. Quantum sensing enables revolutionary magnetic sensitivity and spatial resolution in a modality compatible with biological samples. However, the sample must be delivered close to the diamond sensor for analysis, and transfer between samples must occur in seconds, all while maintaining sensing performance. Prototype sample transfer systems designed and fabricated in this project will implement an innovative new process to rapidly transition between assay samples. The hardware will be compact, require little power, and be manufacturable at low cost. Prototype sample transfer hardware developed in Phase I will form the basis for subsequent engineering of quantum sensor based bioassay devices, with initial applications to the research use only (RUO) sector, and later to clinical in vitro diagnostics. This advance will bridge the gap between the capabilities of quantum magnetic sensing and the sample throughput needs of clinical applications.

SBIR

Phase I

2018

NSF

High-Throughput Single-Nanoparticle Magnetic Analysis Platform Using Diamond Magnetic Imaging

Amount: $300,000 Topic: N/A

Magnetic nanoparticles are widely-used tools over a range of industries, but have particularly powerful biomedical applications for clinical and research diagnostics, clinical therapy, and basic life science research. Many of these applications require consistent sources for magnetic nanoparticles with narrow distributions of magnetic properties, but no technology is now commercially available for manufacturers or users to quantify single-particle magnetic properties with sufficient throughput to provide cost-effective, efficient quality control.Quantum Diamond Technologies has developed a high-throughput magnetic nanoparticle analysis platform using magnetic imaging with quantum defects in diamond. Our system can quantitatively analyze, with high sensitivity and precision, thousands of magnetic nanoparticles in parallel in a matter of minutes with a simple benchtop system. Following our Phase I feasibility study, in this work we will construct an automated prototype for rapid measurements of single-particle magnetization curve data, including magnetic susceptibility, magnetic remanence, and coercivity, key parameters for magnetic particle analysis. We will validate our prototype through comparisons to high-resolution micrographs and conventional bulk magnetic particle measurements. QDTI’s high-throughput, single-particle analytical capability will fill a major gap in current instrumentation, with a low-cost, small-footprint device.

SBIR

Phase II

2017

DOC

NIST

High-Throughput Single-Nanoparticle Magnetic Analysis Platform Using Diamond Magnetic Imaging

Amount: $81,000 Topic: 9.01.09

Magnetic nanoparticles are powerful tools over a wide range of industries, but have particularly powerful biomedical applications for clinical and research diagnostics, clinical therapy, and basic life science research. These applications require consistent sources for magnetic nanoparticles with narrow distributions of magnetic properties, but no technology is now commercially available for manufacturers or users to quantify single-particle magnetic properties with sufficient throughput to provide cost-effective, efficient quality control. Some particle uses, including magnetic separation and magnetic diagnostics, rely on superparamagnetism and suffer reduced performance, such as unwanted particle interactions and aggregation, due to ferromagnetic behavior in a subset of particles. However, this ferromagnetic particle subset can be obscured by ensemble measurements. Quantum Diamond Technologies has developed a high-throughput magnetic particle analysis platform using magnetic imaging with quantum defects in diamond. Our system can quantitatively analyze, with high sensitivity and precision, thousands of magnetic particles in parallel in a matter of minutes with a simple benchtop system. We will adapt this system in Phase I to measure ferromagnetic nanoparticles smaller than 100 nm with similar high throughput. With further development, our underlying magnetic sensing technology can additionally provide vector magnetometry, time-resolved magnetic response, and measurement of particle magnetic anisotrophy.

SBIR

Phase I

2016

DOC

NIST

High-Resolution NV-Diamond Wide-Field Magnetic Imaging

Amount: $1,000,000 Topic: SB122-002

Ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond allow the detection of weak magnetic fields under ambient conditions, with wide-ranging applications in the physical and life sciences. The proposed SBIR project will transition to commercial readiness the high-sensitivity and high-resolution NV-diamond magnetic field imaging devices previously demonstrated in a university laboratory setting. We will develop a prototype diamond magnetic field imager that is broadly applicable to a wide range of magnetic systems, including solids with magnetic microstructure and biological samples in liquid. The prototype goal is a robust-packaged imager with sub-micron magnetic field resolution over a field of view area of 1000 um^2, with DC field sensitivity below 100 uT/sqrt(Hz) over 1 um^2. This instrument will stand apart from other magnetic imaging techniques for its combination of rapid imaging, high resolution, and high sensitivity at low cost, and will complement or replace other technologies for government, military, university, and industry users.

SBIR

Phase II

2014

DOD

DARPA

High-resolution, Ultra-sensitive Magnetic Imaging Using an Ensemble of Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) Centers in Diamond

Amount: $149,566 Topic: SB122-002

Ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond allow the detection of weak magnetic fields under ambient conditions, with wide-ranging applications in the physical and life sciences. We have previously demonstrated high-sensitivity and high-resolution NV-diamond magnetic field imaging devices in a university laboratory setting. The proposed SBIR project will transition these research results into commercial applications. The proposed diamond magnetic field imager will operate in a scanning-confocal mode, and be applicable to both physical science samples and biological systems. In Task 1 we will design a robust-packaged diamond magnetic field imager capable of meeting the following performance goals for a Phase II instrument: spatial resolution<300 nm, AC magnetic field sensitivity<10 nT/Hz1/2, and field-of-view ~1 mm. In Task 2 we will assess techniques to realize spatial resolution<100 nm for the Phase II instrument. In the Phase I Option we will update the Phase II instrument design to provide spatial resolution<100 nm and assess potential Phase III applications of a fieldable instrument. A commercialization strategy and technology transition plan is also presented.

SBIR

Phase I

2012

DOD

DARPA