Quantum computers may still be well in the future, but quantum sensors are just taking off — and the government is investing. The idea of hyper-powerful computers that can crack any code devised by man is still mostly notional, but there are already practical use cases for sensitive sensing devices that work at the edge of quantum mechanics. Quantum sensors use atomic-level technology to detect super-subtle signals, like changes in the electric fields around a neuron, which researchers haven’t been able to access in the past. A 2021 report from global management consultant McKinsey estimated that by 2030 quantum sensing communication technologies could generate $13 billion in revenue, and agencies across the government are exploring their potential. One of the most interesting to researchers is biomedical research. In the human body, quantum sensors can detect electrical signals from our brains and other organs that previously were just not possible to track. “Quantum sensing is simply measuring very weak electrical and magnetic signals in biological systems,” said Sitta Gurusingham, a drug discovery consultant. He offers an example: If scientists could measure the electrical field around a neuron in the brain of a healthy individual and compare it to the magnetic field around a neuron in the brain of a patient with Alzheimers, the hypothesis is that these magnetic fields will look different. “Then if we treat it with the drug, now we can see whether that becomes normal or not,” he said. This kind of data could help pharmaceutical companies know if drugs are actually working, which in turn could lead to more effective drugs. NCATS and the National Science Foundation are exploring quantum sensing to enhance biomedical research (the Department of Energy is also using these sensors in quantum physics research), and their hopes for what these sensors can accomplish are high. At a NIH-hosted workshop on quantum sensing earlier this year, Dr. Joni Rutter, Director of National Center for Advancing Translational Science, talked about why quantum sensing is so needed right now. “There are over 10,000 diseases that we know about,” she said. “Ninety-five percent don’t have treatments or cures.” She continued to say that given it takes about 10-15 years to develop a particular therapeutic for these diseases, and $2.6 billion per therapeutic,, we need faster ways of doing things. Quantum sensors could deliver a level and granularity of data that could increase that speed. Some are made with diamonds. In labs, quantum sensors made with a layer of tiny diamond particles measuring just a few nanometers are already being used to study infectious disease and inflammation in neurological disease. Nanodiamonds have a special defect called a nitrogen vacancy center that causes them to emit fluorescent light in the presence of a small magnetic field. For example, researchers are using sensors like these to detect weak signals like a heart arrhythmia in a fetus still in utero. The NIH workshop was intended to spur conversation among academics, the private sector, and government agencies on how to push this technology forward. A big question is one that will be familiar to anyone following the progress of quantum technology: How can quantum medical devices make the leap from research to practical medicine? As an example, researchers believe that these devices could be great for diagnostics for a wide spectrum of the population. But they’re unclear what the process would be for approving such novel technology. Regulators seem keen to find a way forward. Vasum Peiris, Chief Medical Officer for Pediatrics and Special Populations at the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health, offered a simple path forward: “Come speak with us.”
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