Imaging Intrinsic Stochastic Magnetic Fluctuations in Living Cells

Abstract

SignificanceThis work establishes a probabilistic magnetometry framework for detecting weak stochastic magnetic fluctuations at the nanoscale, which provides the first quantitative access to intrinsic magnetic activity in living cells. Weak stochastic magnetic fluctuations at nanoscale are difficult to quantify. In living cells, ionic transport and molecular currents generate electromagnetic activity whose magnetic component is likewise nanoscale, weak, stochastic, and rapidly varying and has therefore remained experimentally inaccessible. Here we introduce Bio-Spin Probabilistic Inference (BISPIN), a digital statistical framework that can quantify weak, stochastic magnetic fluctuations at the nanoscale. Using threshold-resolved signals from enhanced nitrogen-vacancy quantum sensors, BISPIN converts unstable analog magnetic readouts into statistically convergent digital observables and infers fluctuation strength through probabilistic modeling, enabling robust quantification under random sensor orientations and biological heterogeneity within the experimental bandwidth. Applied to living cells, this approach distinguishes live from fixed cells, resolves agonist-induced activation, and maps subcellular variations in magnetic fluctuation strength. By providing the first quantitative access to intrinsic stochastic magnetic fluctuations in living cells, this work establishes a probabilistic magnetometry framework for cellular electrodynamics and opens a new magnetic dimension of cellular phenotyping for bio-spin omics.