Quantum sensor technology could help with numerous medical practices from scanning brain injuries to detecting systemic diseases. A quantum sensor is a device designed to respond to a stimulus. These are sensor that use quantum coherence to measure a physical quantity, beyond what can be done with classical sensors.
The potential use cases of quantum sensors for biomedical purposes, promises to provide a series of medical breakthroughs. This is in the form of less invasive techniques, better treatments, and saving healthcare systems time and money.
This possibility and associated trends is the subject of a new report is from the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C) with input from members including the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and SandboxAQ.
The report calls out the four most common areas of clinical relevance for the use of quantum sensors. These are: infectious diseases, cancer, drug metabolism, and diagnostics.
For example, the study demonstrates how optically pumped magnetometers can image low-magnetic fields of the brain, heart, foetuses, and muscles. Each area could potentially lead to earlier diagnosis and faster treatment for diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, as well as traumatic brain injuries, heart diseases, and foetal health.
Quantum sensors could also be used in basic research to better understand cancer, such as in studies of cell death and cell temperature dynamics. They may also be used to treat injuries.
“When it comes to biomedical use cases, quantum sensors could have a dramatic impact on improving the lives of patients,” QED-C Executive Director Celia Merzbacher says. “Our report shows that some of these applications are available to benefit patients now. It also reviews obstacles to commercializing other applications such as insufficient data and funding, a lengthy regulatory process, and a lack of collaboration.”
Additional use cases identified in the report include:
• Subcellular imaging
• Brain imaging
• Tissue oxygenation imaging
• Systemic disease detection
• Biophoton detection for disease diagnostics
• Microbiome analysis
The report goes on to explain that quantum sensors can solve numerous challenges that classical computers cannot, such as allowing for less-error-prone machines and significantly shrinking the size of some medical testing devices, possibly leading to better medical outcomes.
As to how this novel technology could be advanced, the report presents three recommendations for accelerating the development of quantum sensors for biomedical applications in the public and private sectors as well as academia.
• Increase collaboration between quantum sensor developers and users so developers are aware of use cases.
• Improve cross-sector cooperation and establish more labs for testing at existing national labs or research universities.
• Improve funding of high-impact, high-feasibility biomedical research from federal agencies and venture capital.
