The scope of quantum computing applications is expanding year by year due to growing research and the increasing prospects of quantum computers emerging from research labs into practical applications. With the widening possibilities in day-to-day applications, these computers are likely to have a profound impact on specific industry segments. Digital privacy, communication, transportation, and healthcare segments are a few examples that promise to transform for the better.
Computing: Can it Achieve More than Conventional Computers?
Quantum computing applications extend beyond the present-day achievable solutions; one example is the modeling of complex chemical procedures that conventional computers certainly cannot manage. By employing quantum mechanics principles, quantum computers can utilize qubits to help them surpass the capabilities of conventional computers. While traditional computers can encode information in 0s and 1s alone, qubits can be both 0s and 1s simultaneously. Due to this feature, quantum computers get an edge, especially while processing specific complex calculations quickly. Subsequently, quantum computers promise to conquer horizons that are presently unachievable, sometimes beyond the imaginations of present-day capabilities.
Possible Impact of Quantum Computing Applications in Healthcare and Medicine:
Treat Cancer:
Quantum computing applications go beyond current-day healthcare practices. There are some drawbacks with the cancer drugs that are available in the market today, as they kill healthy cells instead of cancer cells alone, causing severe health hazards. Amidst this scenario, IQC researchers pioneered the development of a new sensor that can revolutionize and outperform the existing cancer treatment technology. This new sensor can detect the light of a single photon, thereby widening the capabilities of healthcare providers treating cancer patients. Using the sensor, practitioners can monitor the dose amount being injected. It helps in administering the right amount of dose that is enough to kill the cancer cells alone instead of giving access and protecting them from destroying healthy cells.
Macular Degeneration:
Quantum computing helps in the early diagnosis of specific macular degenerative diseases that do not show prior symptoms. For example, macular degeneration in the eyes is one of the major causes of blindness among the elderly population aged 50 years and above. Physicians can treat suck kind of disease only during its early stages. However, it is challenging to diagnose it early as it is asymptomatic. Amidst this diagnostic challenge, researchers from IQC pioneered the development of a structured light microscope that helps optometrists in imaging and tracking eye physiology. It helps in detecting potential risks of macular degeneration in a patient even before the onset of related symptoms.
Drug Development:
Quantum simulation during drug development helps scientists understand diseases, particularly those involving misfolded proteins, such as Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s. With a broader understanding, there is scope to introduce new techniques that help in better treatment.
Quantum computers’ ability to simulate the behavior of atoms and molecules natively enables scientists to discover drugs swiftly with an emphasis on personalized medicine. Some use cases include discovering new pharmaceuticals and predicting protein folding.
Quantum Computing Applications for the Environment:
To Maintain Water Hygiene
To date, there are no effective mechanisms to analyze water contamination for real-time application. For filling these gaps, scientists initiated a project to develop chemical sensors of the next level. The aim of the research is to develop new quantum dots that are made of 2D material that can sense the presence of four different types of heavy metal pollutants that are highly toxic in nature. They include mercury, lead, cadmium, and arsenic pollutants.
These quantum dots with zero-dimensional nature are unique in nature as they exhibit exceptional properties, especially while sensing fluorescence-based chemicals. Some of those quantum dots exhibit include stability, solubility, strong fluorescence, and strong absorption. This multimodal sensing technique offers promising and unique capabilities to detect the presence of water contaminants.