ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½

A team led by Dr Nathan Gemmell at Imperial will develop a quantum imaging system using undetected photons to improve dose measurement in photodynamic therapy for cancer.

The project, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), will develop quantum imaging with undetected photons (dubbed the “EntangleCam”) to aid dosimetry in photodynamic therapy (PDT) for cancer treatment. It builds on a successful QuEST seed fund award.

Quantum imaging with undetected photons is an emerging quantum technology that enables a camera to “see” light wavelengths (colours) well outside of its capability. This occurs thanks to a quantum interference effect between two sources of entangled photon pairs. Each pair of photons looks identical, but the photons within each pair have two different colours.

This combination of two sources and two colours allows information to move between the colours, meaning that when a sample is probed with photons of one colour from one source, information about that sample is transferred to the photons of the other colour. In practice, this allows researchers to probe a sample with infrared photons, while detecting visible photons on a standard silicon camera.

This project aims to bring quantum technologies out of the physics lab and into the NHS, where they can provide a genuine benefit to patient care. Dr Nathan Gemmell Research Fellow, Department of Physics

Dr Nathan Gemmell, lead researcher on the project, says “This project aims to bring quantum technologies out of the physics lab and into the NHS, where they can provide a genuine benefit to patient care. The EntangleCam is a robust system that demonstrates the potential of quantum technologies, and while this funding allows us to pursue one healthcare application with a real unmet need, we are certain there are many more within the NHS waiting to be found”.

With this funding, the EntangleCam will look for the faint infrared signature of so-called “singlet Oxygen” – the cytotoxic element of PDT. If successful, clinicians will be able to accurately measure the dose of treatment given to patients. Such a measurement is crucial for patient outcomes; ensuring that the cancerous tissue has been sufficiently damaged without too much trauma to the surrounding healthy tissue.