Sensitive quantum: how quantum sensors are used in medicine

Quantum sensors are high-precision measuring instruments whose operation is based on the effects of quantum

mechanics. They are characterized by extremely high sensitivity, due to which they are able to make measurements that are inaccessible to classical sensors.

In 2022, the volume of the global market for quantumsensors exceeded $278 billion and, according to analysts, over the next 10 years should grow another three times. Such devices are used in automotive, healthcare, industry, geology, transportation, computer engineering and many other areas. For example, a quantum gravimeter, developed by the University of Birmingham, could help geologists find oil and other mineral deposits. The principle of its operation is based on "cold" atoms: their temperature drops to values ​​close to absolute zero, which gives them the ability to record even subtle changes in gravity. This allows you to detect dangerous voids underground, which can lead to an emergency in the mine. In the future, the gravimeter can be used in construction and for monitoring cargo transportation.

But the truly invaluable contribution of quantumsensory can bring to medicine. Due to their sensitivity, the sensors are able to capture the first signals of the disease even before they can be "caught" by other diagnostic methods. And detection of the disease at an early stage is one of the main factors for successful treatment.

Magnetic signals

One of the main areas of application of quantumsensors in medicine — magnetoencephalography. This procedure allows you to study the state of the brain by measuring the magnetic fields that arise during its electrical activity.

Большинство современных методов диагностики Brain diseases are recorded not by magnetic, but by electrical components - for example, electroencephalography works on this principle. But this procedure does not provide complete information: the sensors have to catch the signal through the skull and tissue, and the human body is a poor conductor of electric fields. 

With magnetic fields, everything is different:a magnetic signal from a part of the brain passes through the tissues in an unchanged state, so that we can get more data from it. The difficulty is that the magnetic fields of our brain are difficult to capture, because their power is extremely small: 10 billion times less than that of the Earth. This requires very sensitive devices, such as quantum sensors. By capturing these small magnetic fields, the sensors make it possible to diagnose various brain tumors, Alzheimer's syndrome or epilepsy.

So, the start of the epileptic process begins withtiny area in the cerebral cortex. With the help of EEG and MRI, it is very difficult to find the focus, but quantum sensors are quite capable of such a task. This is especially important when the patient is about to undergo surgery, and it is necessary to find the area to be removed as accurately as possible.

Quantum sensors for ultra-sensitivemagnetoencephalographs already exist,  and in 2021, the QLU team with scientists from Skoltech and the National Research University Higher School of Economics developed their new type - the world's first solid-state ultrasensitive magnetometer that can operate at room temperature. A year later, QLU attracted 33 million rubles of investment to scale the system and create the first laboratory prototype.

Address delivery

Another area of ​​medicine where they canuse quantum sensors for diagnosis and therapy of oncological diseases. QLU is currently working on one of these methods together with Gleb Sukhorukov’s materials laboratory. The laboratory creates microcapsules - a kind of containers that can be filled with a drug and introduced into the bloodstream. Due to a special biological coating, they can be localized in areas of inflammation and oncology. We want to place magnetic nanoparticles in these containers - then with the help of quantum sensors it will be possible to see where these particles are localized, and thereby identify the tumor at an early stage, and this will greatly increase the chances of a successful outcome of the disease. Sensors have already proven their effectiveness for tracking magnetic particles: recently in  QLU was successfully tested on laboratory mice that were injected with nanoparticles and were able to see their distribution throughout the body. 

This method can be useful not only fordiagnostics, but also in therapy. Thus, complications in oncology often arise from the consequences of chemotherapy, which uses very toxic substances. If nanoparticles are associated with a capsule containing a drug, it can be remotely injected into the tumor. When the capsule attaches to the cancer cells, we will see this, open the container using focused ultrasound or a magnetic field, and thereby release the drug. This way, it will be targeted to cancer cells and act on them precisely, without poisoning the entire body.  

From rehabilitation to the Internet of things

The potential of quantum sensing includesenormous possibilities for its application. Thus, quantum sensors can help in the rehabilitation of patients who have suffered a stroke. To compensate for the functions for which the dead areas of the cerebral cortex were responsible, for example, the ability to control the limbs, new areas need to be activated. And here highly sensitive sensors play a big role. For example, a person imagines that he is moving his arm, and at this time we activate the limb using a special device. The brain begins to build new neural connections. For conventional electroencephalography this is a very long and difficult task, but with quantum sensors it becomes feasible. And in the future, the connection between brain signals and limb movement could be used to control prosthetics. 

Another promising area of ​​quantumsensorics - monitoring of biological processes inside the cell. To do this, you need to introduce a sensor into the cell itself. But in order not to harm its work, the sensor must be of a microscopic size, and some types of quantum sensors have such dimensions.

Outside of medicine, quantum sensors can find their ownapplication in the industrial Internet of things, in the new generation of navigation technologies, the study of processes in the earth's crust, for example, earthquake monitoring, and in many other areas.

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