Quantum technology enabled blood diagnostics for safer and more patient centric cancer care & treatment management

A vital part of cancer therapy is to ensure the exact type and progression of the cancer is known for every patient. Unfortunately, this is very challenging, as cancer is a highly complex disease that changes over time. The way the tumours grow is incredibly complex. Doctors are frequently unsure if a patient will get better when given a particular drug.

Doctors need easy to use tools that enable them to know the exact "fingerprint" of the patient's type of cancer so that they can more precisely select which drug will be best for a particular patient.

Furthermore, drug companies are developing advanced new drugs that can treat specific types of cancer more effectively, but they must be specifically matched to the exact type of cancer for the specific patient. Consequently, there is a need to have more quick and convenient ways of understanding a patient's exact cancer type.

Thankfully, scientists have discovered that tumours release small quantities of "circulating cancer cells" floating into the patients' blood. If these small numbers of cells can be identified and counted, we would have the ability to conduct "liquid biopsies" on patients with a simple blood test.

This application is presented by a company in the UK developing an innovative diagnostic machine that is capable of analysing blood by automatically counting the different types of cells in a patient's blood. They have an opportunity to work with a Canadian company with very special "fluorescent materials" that will make it possible to make the floating cancer cells of interest light up and be more visible and easier to profile cancer cells in the blood.

The two companies wish to work together on research to modify the diagnostic machine in the UK and make the quantum dots attach to the cancer cells of interest. The team also wants to include a Canadian university with a highly sensitive camera that will improve the team's ability to count and identify rare floating cancer cells.

The enclosed team is seeking Canada UK Commercialising Quantum Technology Programme investment to conduct a programme of engineering, biochemical, optical and software-based research needed to enable the team to prove the system can detect the target floating cancer cells in patient's blood samples.