Patent ID: 11921070
Assignee: CARL ZEISS AG
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 17:
18. A system for detecting a nerve cell activity, comprising:
a measuring head as claimed in claim 17;
a light source for generating excitation light which has a temporally periodic modulation and by means of which the NV center of the measuring head is optically excitable;
a sensor device configured to capture the emission light emitted by the NV center; and
a control device;
where:
the nerve cell activity results in a magnetic field in an environment of the nerve cell;
the lifetime and/or the occupation probability of at least one excited state of quantum states of the NV center are/is alterable by a strength and/or orientation of a magnetic field at the NV center; and
the control device is configured to cause the light source to irradiate the NV center with the temporally periodically modulated excitation light and, on the basis of the emission light captured by the sensor device, to determine a phase shift between the emission light and the modulation of the excitation light and also, on the basis thereof, to determine a measured value for the magnetic field at the NV center and thus, when the NV center is arranged in the environment of the nerve cell, to detect the nerve cell activity on the basis of the magnetic field on account of the nerve cell activity.