Tuesday, November 4, 2025 11/4/2025

Nanodiamond Quantum Sensors for Free Radical Detection

Award Number: R44TR005336
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CENTER FOR ADVANCING TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/10/2021
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2026

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Nanodiamond Quantum Sensors for Free Radical Detection - Summary Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have a ubiquitous impact on human health. ROS are directly involved in maintenance of homoeostasis and implicated in disease when misregulated. Currently there is a gap in technologies capable of characterizing and quantifying these important analytes in physiologically relevant conditions (e.g., whole blood). This Phase II SBIR continues development of a quantum sensing technology to perform accurate and accessible kinetic measurements of ROS in minimally processed biofluids. Once developed, the new technology will improve the understanding the roles these species play in disease pathogenesis. It is also expected to enable new modalities for drug and biomarker discovery which could potentially aid in clinical diagnostics. The translational capability of quantum sensors lies in equipping biomedical researchers and clinicians with new measurement tools offering improved sensitivity, resolution, and speed compared to classical sensors. The proposed new family of robust quantum sensors is based on nitrogen- vacancy (NV) centers fabricated in nanodiamonds (NDs). NDNV sensors possess unique magneto-optical quantum properties, where the optical output of the NV depends on its spin state, while the spin state, in turn, is highly sensitive to paramagnetic species/free radicals present nearby. The value of the proposed technology is that the measurements may be reproducibly performed in a media with a high background fluorescence, like whole blood. To achieve this goal, this Phase II SBIR aims at developing a prototype instrument which will be further commercialized in Phase III of this project. We will also continue development of the ND-NV sensor and validation of its performance with measurements in translationally relevant whole blood samples. Our team has complementary expertise in ND processing and commercialization and instrumentation prototyping (Adámas), development of cutting-edge detection/validation schemes in electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and chemical synthesis (NCSU), and clinical research (Duke Medical Center). The outcome of this project will be a sensor with the capability to perform measurements of ROS in whole blood with minimal processing. We anticipate that the greatly reduced assay time and preserved sample integrity will increase the reliability of ROS measurement in basic biomedical research and clinical diagnostics. We aim to provide the full technology solution to end users including an instrument and consumable reagents for conducting Quantum Sensing ROS assays.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $1,000,263 )
2025	2025	ADAMAS NANOTECHNOLOGIES, INC.	8100 BROWNLEIGH DRIVE	RALEIGH	NC	27617	WAKE	USA	National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences	002	3	8/19/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
2025	2025	ADAMAS NANOTECHNOLOGIES, INC.	8100 BROWNLEIGH DRIVE	RALEIGH	NC	27617	WAKE	USA	National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences	001	3	7/28/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$1,000,263
2025	2024	ADAMAS NANOTECHNOLOGIES, INC.	8100 BROWNLEIGH DRIVE	RALEIGH	NC	27617	WAKE	USA	National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences	000	2	11/16/2024	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$0
														Subtotal = $1,000,263

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $1,034,967 )
2024	2024	ADAMAS NANOTECHNOLOGIES, INC.	8100 BROWNLEIGH DRIVE	RALEIGH	NC	27617	WAKE	USA	National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences	000	2	9/18/2024	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$1,034,967
														Subtotal = $1,034,967

Grand Total All Awards = $2,035,230

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Nanodiamond Quantum Sensors for Free Radical Detection

Award Number: R44TR005336

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CENTER FOR ADVANCING TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/10/2021

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2026

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