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Development of methods and
novel technologies in Nuclear Magnetic ResonanceMagnetic
Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy is a medical
technique for diagnosis of diseases and their
treatments’ effectiveness, and it is usually
preferred due to its non-invasive nature. One
of the great challenges for being successful
fighting diseases like cancer or neurodegenerative
diseases such as Alzheimer's, is to understand at
the cellular level the biological processes that
produce them. This happens at microscopic scales
that escape the spatial resolution achieved with
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which is on the
order of millimeters or hundreds of microns. How to go beyond that resolution barrier and be able to see the universe of cells and microstructures within each millimetric pixel of an image? To answer this question, we enter to the world governed by the laws of quantum physics, to develop quantum technologies relevant for practical use in nuclear magnetic resonance and contribute to revolutionize the way in which we would carry out health care, medical diagnosis and even the interpretations of our own biology. To pursue these goals, we develop several research lines and strategies based on the following concepts: |
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Non-Invasive Technologies for Biological and Medical ApplicationsWe are focusing on developing non-invasive “Virtual Histology” tools for identifying biomarkers of diseases and functions of tissues (e.g. cancer, neuro-degeneration, plasticity). |
Quantum TechnologiesWe are contributing to the developing of Quantum Technologies, focused on exploiting the quantum information processing and control tools to design quantum sensors to probe matter or fields at atomic-, nano- and micro-scales. The goal is to pave the way to novel medical technologies and devices. |
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Boosting NMR Signals We are developing methods to boost NMR signals as in hyperpolarization to pave the way to novel methods for metabolic and molecular imaging with NMR and MRI. |
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Dr. Gonzalo Agustín Álvarez
PhD in Physics
My research
My research activity is directed towards exploiting hitherto unexplored foundations of quantum control methods for tailoring spin evolutions in order to develop novel technologies and applications in the areas of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and imaging (MRI). The main topic of my publications is about the spin dynamics of open quantum systems interacting with environments focusing on the characterization of the system dynamics and how it is modified by the environment (decoherence and dissipation). At the practical level, using both NMR experiments and theoretical tools, I am exploiting that by monitoring the changes on the system due to the environmental effects, one can sense the environment for characterizing physical, chemical, biological and medical processes to lead to new applications and quantum technologies in magnetic resonance. At the fundamental level, the understanding and control of quantum interference phenomena, and in particular the propagation of spin excitations can improve our comprehension and control of quantum systems, their decoherence and irreversible processes.
