NeoQKat

Project duration: 09/2026 – 08/2029

In preterm infants, catheter insertion is always necessary when the baby is unable to be breastfed due to its immaturity. Correct and complication-free catheterisation is challenging, as the anatomical structures are very small and the heart and respiratory rates are still comparatively high. To assist with this, positioning can be carried out using ultrasound guidance based on anatomical landmarks. However, the visibility of the catheter is not always sufficient due to the limitations of ultrasound technology. The NeoQKat project addresses this problem with a novel technology for electromagnetic catheter tracking based on purely quantum-optical magnetic field sensors. New photonic approaches are intended to make the technology considerably more precise and robust. A novel aspect here is the incorporation of the quantum mechanical transition probability via the fluorescence lifetime of the NV centres. Additional conversion materials, such as ruby or phosphor, are to be used as further measurement parameters. This is intended to enable a metrological distinction between temperature and magnetic field strength, independent of the absolute intensity of the excitation light. A special ultrasound transducer generates magnetic fields in different spatial directions. These fields, which penetrate the body from the outside, are measured by the sensor at the tip of the catheter. The position of the catheter tip is calculated in relation to an ultrasound transducer and visualised in the corresponding ultrasound image. This aids sonography-guided puncture or allows for simple subsequent position verification. NeoQKat thus fills a diagnostic gap in routine clinical practice, as no catheter-tracking systems for preterm infants have existed to date.