Quantum sensing and imaging in healthcare

Contents

Introduction

The next generation of quantum sensors and quantum-enhanced imaging techniques offer new or radically improved capabilities compared with existing sensors and imaging techniques. They have a wide range of potential use cases in sectors such as health, defence and transport. Not all use cases will involve processing personal information.

This chapter focuses on the data protection implications of use cases in healthcare and medical research ¹⁰, which is one of the priorities for investment under the UK national quantum strategy missions. Our 2024 Tech Futures report on quantum technologies highlighted that these use cases are:

likely to involve processing sensitive personal information;
among the closest to commercialisation; and
likely to expand further.

The unprecedented sensitivity of these technologies could unlock new insights into the human mind and body, and speed up the diagnosis of diseases such as cancer. In the future, combining quantum sensors with other technologies, such as medical IoT devices, could enable personalised health management at home ¹¹.

About quantum sensing and imaging

Quantum sensors

Quantum sensors use quantum phenomena to measure subtle changes in such things as magnetic fields, gravity and temperature. These next-generation sensors give greater accuracy and precision, offering enhanced or entirely new capabilities ¹². In the future, they could also be smaller, lighter and more cost effective than current sensors for certain applications, if hardware improves and technical challenges are overcome ¹³.

There are many types of quantum sensor. For example, in healthcare, neuroscience and medical research, some magnetic sensors may be used for non-invasive, portable and more detailed medical diagnostics. These sensors can detect tiny changes in magnetic fields, such as changes generated by individual neurons firing in the brain or by muscle movement ¹⁴. Potential applications include wearable brain scanners for epilepsy and Alzheimer’s diagnosis and research, and cardiac health monitors detecting subtle changes in the heart’s magnetic field ¹⁵.

Another type of sensor, the nanodiamond quantum sensor, can be used to speed up the diagnosis of infectious disease using a portable blood test. The sensor uses the quantum properties of a type of flaw in some tiny diamonds ¹⁶.

Quantum-enhanced imaging

Cameras using quantum-enhanced imaging use quantum effects like entanglement ¹⁷ to achieve superior resolution, contrast and novel imaging capabilities compared to existing techniques ¹⁸. In healthcare and medical research, some of the most promising applications for quantum-enhanced imaging include improving non-invasive medical diagnostics and screening for conditions such as cancer.

One method employs ultrafast cameras with sensors detecting and timing single photons, applying machine learning to create detailed images ¹⁹. In healthcare, this technique can be used to take pictures through some opaque surfaces, such as skin and bone (eg, to monitor blood flow in the brain), or to directly monitor tiny heartbeat variations. It could also open new possibilities for portable medical scanners in GP surgeries or ambulances (eg, to detect fractures), or could be used to improve brain-computer interfaces. Single-photon detectors could eventually support in-home monitoring for conditions like eye disease.

Another technique uses quantum entanglement to take pictures using a normal lab camera but in a wider spectrum of light than is currently possible ²⁰. This has applications in the biomedical imaging of cells for medical research ²¹.

Finally, tiny, nano-scale particles called quantum dots could enable earlier detection of cancer biomarkers, which indicate someone has the disease. These quantum dots may also be used to monitor how medicines are working in the human body. This is because they are very sensitive and interact with light in unique ways ²².

State of development

Many quantum sensing and imaging technologies are at a more advanced stage of technical development than other types of quantum technology. Plausible timescales vary according to the type of sensor. Some are already in the early stage of commercialisation, and being used in medical research today.

The UK government is seeking to drive adoption in the healthcare sector through investment in healthcare-focused quantum research hubs ²³. The quantum missions launched in 2023 set a target for every NHS trust to have access to some quantum sensing systems for early diagnosis by 2030. Depending on factors such as evidence of clinical utility and medical device approval, we may begin to see clinical applications of quantum sensing and imaging technologies expand over the next 5-15 years ²⁴.

Further ahead, in 15-25 years we may see the integration of certain magnetic quantum sensors in high-end consumer healthtech and wearable devices provided on prescription ²⁵. Quantum sensors and imaging techniques could also be integrated in future brain-computer interfaces. This could enable remote brain-health monitoring as well as commercial applications beyond healthcare, such as gaming ²⁶.

Despite significant UK investment to date ²⁷, there are barriers to further adoption, such as:

commercial competition from widely used existing technologies;
technical challenges to reduce size and cost;
supply-chain challenges.

This means that the development and future market for many potential use cases are still highly uncertain, particularly over the next 5-15 years. We are, however, likely to see novel healthcare applications emerge as quantum-enabled research expands our understanding of the body and mind.

Fictional future scenario

Following successful clinical trials and medical device approval, several hospitals begin working with a research team to introduce wearable quantum-enabled brain scanning ²⁸for children with certain neurological conditions. They aim to use the system’s increased sensitivity and detail as a precision tool to improve early diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of conditions such as epilepsy and autism.

Researchers conduct short brain scans in controlled clinical settings at various developmental stages. They pseudonymise the information collected and analyse it using machine-learning tools. Scan results are added to the child’s medical record and stored to support future research into related conditions.

The hospital board has concerns about the increased amount of information it will need to collect and process once it starts using these systems. Before the trial, Xavier, the hospital’s data protection officer, works with the research team to ensure a ‘data protection by design’ approach and safeguard children’s information from disclosure or misuse throughout its lifecycle.

Data protection and privacy implications

Expanded capabilities, same data protection approach

Healthcare organisations and researchers processing personal information should already be applying high data protection standards to their processing. The data protection obligations and tools to help protect this information do not change simply because future approaches may involve new quantum technologies.

The use cases we have explored in this chapter such as brain scanning, cancer screening and heart sensing will involve processing personal information. For example, they may collect data on a person’s brain patterns or changes in the magnetic field of their heart, or cancer diagnostics ²⁹. Brain-imaging applications also involve processing neurodata, a novel and intimate type of personal information explored in our 2023 neurotech report ³⁰.

Given the nature and context of the processing, the information collected is also likely to be health data ³¹, a type of special category data. Special category data needs to be treated with more care because of the potential risks to people’s fundamental rights when used or the potentially severe risks of harm if unlawfully disclosed ³².

Additional protections apply to the processing of special category data. As well as identifying a lawful basis for processing, organisations processing health data must identify an Article 9 condition for processing, and ensure they maintain appropriate policy documents. The conditions relied on for this type of processing are likely to be health or social care, scientific research, or public health (Article 9, subsections (h), (j) and (i)). These conditions require additional safeguards, such as appropriate technical and organisational methods for protecting the information, and careful consideration of the purpose for processing it ³³.

When testing or deploying systems that use new quantum technologies, a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) can be applied to assess the risks of processing and document any mitigations. A DPIA must be used for all processing that poses a high risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals, such as when processing special category data ³⁴. When completing a DPIA, organisations should consider the additional risks to people’s privacy when collecting novel, more detailed insights about them.

Medical devices are regulated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and overseen by medical bodies such as the General Medical Council (GMC) and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The interplay of the obligations these bodies impose with data protection requirements is outside the scope of this report.

Data minimisation

Organisations must only collect information that is adequate, relevant, and limited to what is needed for their lawful purpose. This is the principle of data minimisation and can help increase trust when implementing new quantum technologies.

In some health and research scenarios, organisations will not need more detail. However, in the case of novel quantum sensing and imaging for medical or research purposes, a key stated benefit over existing technologies is the extra detail and insights they provide. In the short to medium term, these technologies are most likely to be used as precision scientific tools to investigate things that current approaches cannot.

The principle of data minimisation does not prevent healthcare organisations processing more detailed information about people where necessary to support positive health outcomes. Data protection law also recognises the importance of organisations processing enough information to ensure accuracy ³⁵. However, organisations must have a justifiable reason for collecting and processing additional information, such as a clear clinical or research benefit. Organisations must not collect or retain more information than they need. This is part of ensuring data protection by design.

Under Article 89 of UK GDPR, organisations processing information for scientific and medical research purposes must also implement data minimisation via technical and organisational safeguards. If the research team wish to keep information beyond standard retention periods for research purposes, they must at least pseudonymise the information at the earliest possible opportunity.

UK GDPR also includes additional safeguards that the team must factor in when processing personal information for research purposes. For example, they must ensure any future research purposes are compatible with the original purpose for processing. Our guidance on the research provisions, privacy enhancing technologies, and the upcoming 2025 update to our anonymisation and pseudonymisation guidance give more information.

Enhanced capabilities may exacerbate wider risks

The new capabilities and potential for increasingly detailed insights could exacerbate existing privacy and information rights issues, should some healthcare use cases expand beyond controlled research and clinical environments. For example, while we are unlikely to see quantum technologies integrated into consumer brain-computer interfaces soon, there are already experiments exploring how quantum imaging techniques could enhance or accelerate them.

The sensitivity offered by quantum sensing techniques (such as the ability to detect individual neurons firing) and quantum-enhanced imaging, combined with potential advances in interpreting this information, could lead to more detailed insights and inferences than people initially realise. As noted in our Tech Futures report on neurotechnology, people may not understand what information is being collected and why. If capabilities are misused or information is inadequately protected, there are concerns about risks of unfair processing (and even neurodiscrimination). The potential risks are more prominent when inferences are made about emotional responses, rather than medical conditions or diagnoses.

We are also seeing research into use cases that integrate quantum sensing and imaging techniques into in-home health-monitoring solutions. Timescales for implementation and commercialisation are unclear and we will need to remain alert to developments. As noted in our first Tech Horizons report’s chapters on next-generation IoT and consumer healthtech, ensuring meaningful transparency and appropriate safeguards for special category health data will be important. This is especially so, given the additional sensitivity of new quantum techniques and the nature of the information they can be used to collect.

Recommendations and next steps

Our 2024 Tech Futures report on quantum technologies states our early thinking on the intersection of quantum technologies and data protection, including use cases for sensing and imaging beyond healthcare.

As noted in that report, to support responsible innovation and people’s information rights in a quantum-enabled future, we will continue to:

seek out further opportunities to share our insights with – and learn from – industry, UKQuantum, the UK’s quantum hubs and their pilot projects, the Office for Quantum, academia, the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) and other regulators; and
explore potential applications and capabilities for quantum sensing and quantum-enhanced imaging in healthcare and any potential risks of data protection harms to people.

We also encourage further discussions with all organisations, including in healthcare and medical research, to ensure they embed privacy by design and default when testing and deploying quantum technologies that involve processing personal information.

We invite innovators to work with our Regulatory Sandbox to engineer data protection into quantum technology use cases involving personal information from the outset, focusing on the most innovative moves. We will also examine opportunities to contribute to external sandboxes and testbeds as appropriate.