Her mom, postdoctoral fellow Michele Piscitelli, is a self-described nuts and bolts low-temperature experimentalist. Specializing in instrumentation, she has a knack for seeing the invisible—or building the tools that can, at least.
Traditional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revolutionized medical imaging and transformed our understanding of the structure and function of biological systems, but is limited to millimeter resolution. Now, a tiny microscope that resembles more of a computer chip is poised to be the next big advancement in medical imaging.
It’s a long-term goal that Piscitelli is passionate about. She’s spent hours in the QNFCF fabricating the materials and assembling, with nanometer accuracy, the small device that she describes as an “on-chip” MRI scanner.
Quantum technology and commercialization
Connecting quantum researchers, entrepreneurs and investors to advance the commercialization of quantum technology.
> Quantum-Nano Fabrication and Characterization Facility
> Transformative Quantum Technologies
> Quantum Exploration Space
The device is small, but promises to be mighty. “This work extends the powerful capabilities of MRI to the nanometer scale and provides a whole new lens with which to view the structure and function of complex biomolecules,” said Raffi Budakian, lead investigator of the Nanoscale Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NMRI) lab and a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Waterloo.
To test the device, the NMRI team is experimenting with an inorganic crystal sample. “First, we have to see how well the device is measuring, so we use a sample with a very well-known structure. Once we know it can do this precisely, we can start looking at materials on the nanoscale that we haven’t had the capability to image yet.”
These materials include biologically relevant samples like virus particles and proteins that cause diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Gaining a clear image of what these look like could have an immense impact on medicine, from better treatment to a deeper understanding of complex biomolecules.
For now, Piscitelli continues her work in the orange glow of the QNFCF. She has big dreams for how the small imaging device will change the world Harriet grows up in.
