How Quantum Computing & Artificial Intelligence Revolutionizing Healthcare and Medicine

Author – Utpal Chakraborty, Head of Artificial Intelligence at YES Bank, AI Researcher

The field of healthcare and medicine and specially the digital healthcare will get a great boost with the advancement and wide scale use of Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence. In fact, these technologies have already started transforming different areas of Healthcare and Medicine in a big way.

Before even quantum computers were there, scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine long back anticipated the potential of quantum computers to better understand genetics and different diseases. The envision been realized and a team at the University’s center for quantum computing & biology is now harnessing the power of quantum computing to gain better insights into genetic diseases with the help of machine learning algorithms. Researchers expecting that these efforts will benefit not only health care and medicine but also many other streams of science and technology. These advancements in genomics are being used to create tailored treatment plans for specific patients and quantum computing is expected to truly revolutionize the field of Personalized Medicine. One of the most exciting aspects of how this technology will have an unwavering impact on the health sector is that it will take medical decisions to a completely new horizon.

It has already been established in the research that quantum computing can optimize Radiation Therapy procedures in Cancer treatment which will bring a revolution in Cancer Care and Cancer Management by reducing the adverse side effects of radiation treatment.

Quantum Annealing along with Adiabatic ML (QAML), which implements a combination of Machine Learning and Quantum Computing as a programmable quantum annealer, helps to reduce human intervention and increase the accuracy of data evaluation on particle collisions. Annealing is a heat treatment process which alters the microstructure of a material to change its mechanical or electrical properties. Quantum Annealing is now used for the study of interaction of molecules in Bioscience and Human Body in simulated environment. Similarly, “In-Silico Simulations” used for various drug design are been reinforced by quantum computing.

Big data research and machine learning are among the areas that enabled in-depth understanding of health outcomes in the health systems. The power of quantum computer is also leveraged to process enormous health records realistically stored in Big Data systems or in a Data Lake, also apply sophisticated quantum encryption on PHIs, Protected Health Information so that nobody can temper with such highly sensitive data. Also, quantum computers can largely address the challenges building a comprehensive digital healthcare ecosystem that requires working with a variety of data sources and establishing correlation among them, such as – medical records, clinical data, medical imaging data, doctors’ prescriptions etc. Quantum computers are capable of processing this huge amount of multipurpose data from various data sources, building correlations and inferences to bring a comprehensive view of a particular medical case or at large.

Quantum Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Q-MRI) machines can generate extremely precise images that allow the visualization of individual molecules. Quantum computing technology can improve MRI technology by providing extremely accurate measurements and allowing doctors to look much deeper into small particles that conventional computing technology would not be able to detect. With the use of quantum computing along with artificial intelligence it is possible to interpret diagnostic images in its very minute details.

The kind of enormous computing power and intelligence that quantum computing will bring will change the landscape for artificial intelligence powered healthcare applications. Healthcare and medicine industry is already in a race to truly reap the benefits of quantum computing, they are in the race of developing a number of new smart applications powered by Machine Learning & Quantum. Quantum computers are already in use to streamline drug discovery process by shortening the timespan and hence time to market. It has also started bringing about a huge change in the field of genetic research; the challenges which were almost impossible to crack in the sequencing, engineering and editing has now been simplified with the huge power of quantum computing.

Preventive healthcare characterized by constant accumulation and monitoring of the vital health parameters and suggestive actions based on the predictions provided by AI algorithms will be getting a huge boost in accuracy and precision. Some work in this area has already been started and experts are quite confident with the initial findings.

“Critical Care Decisions” decisions are taken by doctors or board of doctors backed by vital body parameters of the patient and his/her health condition. Many times, it becomes extremely difficult due to nonavailability of information pertaining to various other parameters as well as establishing correlation among them. Quantum computing along with AI can literally flip the situation and make this extremely easy; researchers are very optimistic and already exploring these possibilities at various levels.

Quantum computing along with AI is revolutionizing almost all different vertices of healthcare and medicine including clinical imaging, diagnosis and personalized treatment, drug research are just few examples. The impact that quantum computing could be very significant and could potentially solve many of the unsolved in this field.

A range of machine learning algorithms that can harness the power of the quantum computing systems to deliver real-time results in diagnosis of ailments. Quantum computers can generate great value by renderings of medical imaging in a fraction of the time that could lead to more personalized medicine based on an individual’s genetic composition. Also, it can quickly sequence and solve other problems in healthcare like sequence and solve DNA in a fraction of the time than of traditional genetic sequencing. These enormous possibilities will lead to the democratization of the quantum computer in every vertical of healthcare and medicine.

Health researchers are currently focusing on how quantum computer-based techniques can be used to detect cancer. Quantum computing will examine data provided during cancer screening to identify the diseases and also specific cues and biomarkers. There are a number of universities in collaboration with healthcare companies are expecting the computational boost and predicted accuracy that quantum computing could provide in their groundbreaking products and solutions in the field of healthcare and medicine.

It is expected that widespread availability and use of quantum computing in different industry verticals will start very soon in just few years. Already today API enables programmers and developers to build interfaces that connect classic computers and existing systems with cloud-based quantum computers without requiring a deep understanding or background in quantum physics.

Author details:
Utpal Chakraborty