Quantum-Enabled Brain Imaging: A Pathway to Clinical Utility

我们的目标是通过引入一种新型扫描仪，利用量子技术在医疗保健领域的潜力，这种扫描仪有可能对人类大脑健康产生重大影响。人类的大脑，以及影响它的疾病，是21世纪医疗保健面临的巨大挑战。从童年发作的疾病，如癫痫，到老年相关的问题，如痴呆；大脑健康障碍非常使人衰弱，它们摧毁了家庭，每年在英国造成的损失超过1000亿英镑。脑部扫描仪，比如核磁共振成像，对我们治疗各种疾病的能力产生了巨大的影响。然而，大多数扫描仪的设计目的是拍摄大脑的样子，在许多疾病中，它看起来很正常。相反，症状与大脑功能异常有关，即脑细胞的实际功能。因此，迫切需要一种新一代的扫描仪，能够准确而有力地测量大脑活动。我们在这一领域率先使用了量子技术。简而言之，量子传感器利用原子的基本特性来测量现实世界中我们知道存在、但我们看不见的事物；比如重力或磁场。我们知道脑细胞通过小电流相互交流，这些电流产生的磁场穿过头骨，存在于头部之外。我们无法看到它们，但我们可以用量子传感器来探测它们，并通过这种方式测量大脑活动。我们已经知道这些测量是有用的；在癫痫中，我们可以精确定位导致癫痫发作的大脑区域；在脑震荡中，我们可以看到头部损伤如何改变不同大脑区域之间的交流，在痴呆症中，我们可以看到大脑活动如何“减慢”，这为早期诊断提供了一种手段。我们现在面临的挑战是将这一巨大潜力转化为对医疗保健提供者有用的技术。在这个项目的第一阶段，我们将与世界领先的临床医生合作，找出我们的扫描仪可以在哪里产生最大的影响，以及我们应该如何改变它来实现这种影响。输出将是机器的一组需求。在第二阶段，我们将建造这台机器——解决第一阶段出现的所有技术要求。我们将在试验中部署这台机器，以证明量子技术可以帮助解决人类大脑健康中一些最紧迫的问题。

Our aim is to harness the potential of quantum technology in healthcare, by introducing a new type of scanner which has the potential to significantly impact human brain health.The human brain, and the disorders that affect it, represent an enormous challenge for 21st century healthcare. From diseases that strike in childhood, like epilepsy, to problems associated with old age, like dementia; brain health disorders are extremely debilitating, they devastate families, and they cost the UK over £100 billion per year.Brain scanners, like MRI, have had an enormous impact on our ability to manage all sorts of disorders. However, most scanners are designed to take pictures of what the brain looks like, and in many disorders it looks normal. Instead, symptoms relate to abnormalities in brain function i.e. what brain cells actually do. There is therefore a pressing need for a new generation of scanners that can accurately and robustly measure brain activity.We have pioneered the use of quantum technology in this field. Briefly, quantum sensors use the fundamental properties of atoms to measure things in the real world that we know exist, but we cannot see; like gravity, or magnetic fields. We know that brain cells communicate with each other via flow of small electrical currents, and those currents generate magnetic fields which pass through the skull and exist outside the head. We cannot see them, but we can use quantum sensors to detect them and, in this way, measure brain activity. We already know these measurements are useful; in epilepsy we can pinpoint brain regions responsible for seizures; in concussion we can see how head injury alters communication between different brain areas, and in dementia we can see how brain activity "slows down" offering a means for early diagnosis. Our challenge is now to translate this significant potential into a useful technology for healthcare providers.In Phase 1 of this project, we will partner with world leading clinicians to work out where our scanner could have the biggest impact, and how we should change it to deliver that impact. The output will be a set of requirements for a machine. In Phase 2 we will build this machine -- solving all the technical requirements emerging from Phase 1\. We will deploy this machine in a trial which will prove that quantum technology can help solve some of the most pressing problems in human brain health.