Quantum Computing in Healthcare Jordan Simo Kaptue MRI

Quantum Computing in Healthcare Jordan Simo Kaptue

MRI ◦ Quantum-based MRI could be used to look at single molecules or groups of molecules instead of the entire body, giving clinicians a far more accurate picture. ◦ gold nanoparticles can be “programmed” to build up only in tumour cells, allowing for precise imaging as well as laser destruction of the tumour, without harming healthy cells.

Genome Sequencing ◦ Genome sequencing is the process of determining the order of the four DNA bases [adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C), guanine (G)] in our DNA ◦ Today, genome sequencing involves taking the DNA apart into smaller parts and looking for certain biomarkers that are similar to mutations found in a reference genome. ◦ Problems: Very long and not very accurate. ◦ A Quantum Computer, with much more computational power and storage, could go through each gene variant simultaneously and find the order of the DNA bases much quicker with better accuracy.

Personalized Medicine ◦ Genome Sequencing usually ties to personalized medicine. ◦ It is becoming much easier for people to have their DNA sequenced (price drops from multi-millions to about $100), more people will get their DNA sequenced, creating a lot of data. ◦ Quantum Computing to sift through all this data and tailor medical plans for each patient, patients will efficiently recover without the risk of having their health decline due to general treatments.

Medication Discovery ◦ One application of this property is the ability to simulate chemical interactions between molecules. Part of this process involves accounting for each possible combination of electron interactions (sharing, repelling or attracting between atoms). ◦ Quantum computers could efficiently and accurately go through each possibility of a molecule’s structure in an instant and simulate ionic and molecular compounds that are yet to be physically experimented with for healthcare purposes. With such computational power, quantum computers could revolutionize the way we look at pharmaceutics, healthcare and biochemistry.

Radiotherapy ◦ Radiation therapy is the most widely-used form of treatment for cancers. Radiation beams are used to destroy cancerous cells or at least stop them multiplying. ◦ Devising a radiation plan is to minimize damage to surrounding healthy tissue and body parts is a very complicated optimization problem with thousands of variables. To arrive at the optimal radiation plan requires many simulations until an optimal solution is determined. With a quantum computer, the horizon of possibilities that can be considered between each simulation is much broader. This allows us to run multiple simulations simultaneously and develop an optimal plan faster

Conclusion ◦ Now, you can probably see that Quantum Computing has a massive potential to replace classical computers and through the use of Quantum Phenomena, we can solve complex mathematical problems instantly. In terms of Healthcare, the impact Quantum Computing could have is very significant as we could be looking at genome sequencing, personalized medicine and medication discovery much differently. These impacts are what awaits a future based on Quantum Computing.

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