The Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), a group supported by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, has been beating the drum for quantum sensors in recent months, and this week issued a report promoting potential use cases for quantum sensors in the biomedical field.
The report identified the four most common areas of clinical relevance for the use of quantum sensors: infectious diseases, cancer, drug metabolism, and diagnostics. For instance, QED-C participants noted in the report that optically pumped magnetometers can image low-magnetic fields of the brain, heart, fetuses, and muscles, potentially leading to earlier diagnosis and faster treatment for diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, as well as traumatic brain injuries, heart diseases, and fetal health.
Quantum sensors generally have been thought to show promise in the long run for making certain kinds of health screenings more efficient and less expensive because they rely on the principles of quantum mechanics to precisely measure extremely small environmental changes without being affected by noise, and use small components, resulting in less bulky medical diagnostics equipment. For example, it has been generally believed that quantum sensing components could eventually result in smaller, less expensive, but more accurate MRI machines.
“When it comes to biomedical use cases, quantum sensors could have a dramatic impact on improving the lives of patients,” said QED-C Executive Director Celia Merzbacher, in a press release. “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.”
The latest report is the second one that the QED-C has published on quantum sensing in the last two months. The first one, issued in October, address general applications and promise for quantum sensing, as well as challenges.
Some use cases biomedical use cases identified in the report include:
- Subcellular imaging
- Brain imaging
- Tissue oxygenation imaging
- Systemic disease detection
- Biophoton detection for disease diagnostics
- Microbiome analysis
As for those obstacles Merzbacher mentioned, the report notes that challenges still exist in the form of lack of awareness and funding for further research and testing as start-ups and technology developers work to design quantum sensors to operate in real-world settings and application scenarios. The report recommends that there needs to be more collaboration “between developers and the clinicians who would use the sensors. For example, quantum sensor experts should proactively reach out to clinicians by participating in their conferences and meetings, such as those hosted by the American Medical Association, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and the Medical Device Manufacturers Association.”
The report also identifies some areas where the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) “could help facilitate commercialization, largely based on the two agencies’ core roles in supporting research into and stewarding the approval of new medical devices.”
Geetha Senthil, Ph.D., deputy director of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Office of Special Initiatives, at the NIH, stated in the QED-C press release, “Using quantum sensors for biomedical applications has the potential to revolutionize our approach to treating health conditions.”