Quantum sensors use quantum properties of atoms, ions, spins or light to measure physical quantities — magnetic fields, time, temperature, rotation — with very high sensitivity. Several of these sensors are now moving from physics laboratories into biomedical research, most visibly in wearable magnetoencephalography based on optically pumped magnetometers and in nanoscale sensing using nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond. For India, which combines a large disease burden, uneven access to advanced diagnostics and a new national commitment to quantum technologies, quantum sensing raises a practical question: which applications could reach patients, and what would it take? This paper reviews the main classes of quantum sensors relevant to health, assesses their technology readiness, and identifies application areas that fit Indian health-system needs, including neurological diagnostics, cardiac monitoring and point-of-care testing. It then proposes a five-stage translational pathway — from need definition to health-system adoption — and highlights enablers that Indian institutions would need: clinical partnerships, regulatory pathways for novel devices, affordable shielding and engineering, health technology assessment and skills. The paper is a perspective and does not report experimental results or describe any proprietary device.
Quantum sensors use quantum properties of atoms, ions, spins or light to measure physical quantities — magnetic fields, time, temperature, rotation — with very high sensitivity. Several of these sensors are now moving from physics laboratories into biomedical research, most visibly in wearable magnetoencephalography based on optically pumped magnetometers and in nanoscale sensing using nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond. For India, which combines a large disease burden, uneven access to advanced diagnostics and a new national commitment to quantum technologies, quantum sensing raises a practical question: which applications could reach patients, and what would it take? This paper reviews the main classes of quantum sensors relevant to health, assesses their technology readiness, and identifies application areas that fit Indian health-system needs, including neurological diagnostics, cardiac monitoring and point-of-care testing. It then proposes a five-stage translational pathway — from need definition to health-system adoption — and highlights enablers that Indian institutions would need: clinical partnerships, regulatory pathways for novel devices, affordable shielding and engineering, health technology assessment and skills. The paper is a perspective and does not report experimental results or describe any proprietary device.
Quantum sensors are finding their way from laboratories to the real world, as witnessed by the increasing number of start-ups in this field. The atomic length scale of quantum sensors and their coherence properties enable unprecedented spatial resolution and sensitivity. Biomedical applications could benefit from these quantum technologies, but it is often difficult to evaluate the potential impact of the techniques. This Review sheds light on these questions, presenting the status of quantum sensing applications and discussing their path towards commercialization. The focus is on two promising quantum sensing platforms: optically pumped atomic magnetometers, and nitrogen–vacancy centres in diamond. The broad spectrum of biomedical applications is highlighted by four case studies ranging from brain imaging to single-cell spectroscopy. Quantum sensors enable new possibilities in biomedical applications due to their high sensitivity. In this Review, the status of quantum sensing is presented, and the path towards real-world applications on the molecular, cellular and organism scale is evaluated.
The rapid advancements in technology and scientific research have led to an unprecedented demand for precise and reliable measurement systems. Traditional sensors, while highly effective in many domains, often face limitations in terms of sensitivity, accuracy, and environmental robustness. Unlike classical sensors, these devices offer unparalleled sensitivity and precision, enabling measurements of physical quantities such as magnetic fields, gravitational waves, and temperature with quantum-level accuracy. This study presents a comprehensive performance evaluation of various quantum sensing technologies for blood-based disease biomarker detection. Using simulation data from the Quantum Toolbox in Python (QuTiP), key performance metrics, including coherence time, signal-to-noise ratio, dynamic range, and entanglement, were analyzed across biomarkers. Results indicate that Quantum Coherence sensors exhibit superior diagnostic potential due to their high coherence and signal fidelity, followed by Atomic Magnetometers and Nitrogen vacancy Centers, which offer a balance between sensitivity and practical deployment. While Quantum Dots demonstrated strengths in resolution and entanglement, they were limited by noise susceptibility. Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices, despite their established reliability, showed reduced performance in critical quantum metrics. Bridging the gap between laboratory validation and clinical deployment will require interdisciplinary collaboration, standardization, and large-scale clinical trials.
Background: High-precision sensing is vital for modern technology, yet conventional sensors are fundamentally constrained by classical noise limits. Quantum sensing leverages principles of quantum mechanics, such as superposition and entanglement, to overcome these barriers, offering unprecedented sensitivity. This review comprehensively analyzes the current state of quantum sensor technology, focusing on its underlying physical principles, emerging applications, and the pathway toward industrial maturation.Methods: We synthesize findings from key research areas, detailing the foundational quantum systems like Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centers in diamond and advanced optical techniques. The paper reviews the theoretical methods used to achieve sub-shot-noise performance and discusses the system-level engineering challenges necessary for practical deployment, particularly concerning microwave control and optical readout. We also assess the current landscape of standardization efforts for quantum technologies.Results: Significant breakthroughs are highlighted in both biomedical and environmental sensing. Applications range from tracking cellular redox-status using electron-paramagnetic resonance to ultra-sensitive salinity measurements. The analysis confirms that quantum sensing provides superior resolution compared to classical counterparts, unlocking new capabilities in in-vivo and real-time monitoring.Discussion: While offering transformative potential, widespread adoption faces hurdles, including the maintenance of quantum coherence in ambient environments and the high cost and complexity of current instrumentation. Future efforts must focus on miniaturization, integration with classical systems, and standardized fabrication protocols. Quantum sensing represents the next-generation technological paradigm for metrology.
Abstract Quantum technologies — encompassing quantum sensing, quantum computing and machine learning (QML), quantum nanomaterials, and quantum cryptography — represent an emerging class of physical and computational tools with the potential to address fundamental limitations in clinical medicine across diagnostics, therapeutics, drug discovery, and health-information security. Despite a rapidly growing body of peer-reviewed evidence, estimated at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 14.8% over 2016–2025, the extant literature organises findings by technology type rather than clinical specialty, limiting accessibility for clinically-oriented readers and precluding systematic cross-domain technology maturity comparison. This review addresses that structural gap through a specialty-first synthesis of the quantum-medicine literature and the introduction of an original five-dimension Translational Readiness Taxonomy (TRT: Hardware Maturity, Validation Setting, Benchmarking Rigour, Reproducibility, Regulatory Pathway) as a replicable cross-domain maturity assessment instrument. A total of 168 peer-reviewed studies were identified through a reproducible seven-step PRISMA-aligned screening pipeline from a deduplicated corpus of 14,303 records (Scopus n = 7,081; Web of Science n = 4,644; PubMed n = 2,578), organised across five clinical domains: cardiology , neurology , oncology, genomics and drug discovery , and health data security ; 2022; Indumathi et al. 2024; Roosan et al. 2025; Freyer et al. 2025; Roosan et al. 2024; Lo et al. 2024; Singh et al. . Three original synthesising frameworks are additionally introduced: the Quantum-Medicine Translation Pipeline (QMTP), the Evidence-Maturity Bubble Matrix, and the Quantum-Medicine Ecosystem Map. Neurology leads translational readiness across hardware maturity, clinical validation, and benchmarking dimensions, driven by progressive optically-pumped-magnetometer magnetoencephalography (OPM-MEG) clinical adoption. Oncology, despite constituting 41.7% of included studies and generating the four highest-cited records, exhibits the lowest TRT composite score, with no prospective patient-recruited trials identified across its 70 included studies. A QML-framing-versus-evidence gap is confirmed in cardiology and oncology, where near-term clinical QML claims lack the computational proof-of-concept infrastructure that would logically need to precede them. Health data security leads regulatory maturity via the 2024 NIST finalisation of post-quantum cryptographic standards (CRYSTALS-Kyber/FIPS 203)
Abstract Quantum sensing (QS) is a rapidly developing field at the intersection of physics, biology, and nanotechnology. It holds great promise for improving how we detect biomolecules in health, diagnostics, and environmental monitoring, and this potential is reflected in the rapid development and growing interest in advanced biosensing technologies. Traditional sensing methods, while useful, often face limits in sensitivity, speed, and the ability to analyze tiny amounts or subtle changes in biomolecules. QS uses coherence, entanglement, and superposition to achieve much higher sensitivity and precision than classical techniques. These technologies rely on advanced platforms like nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamonds, quantum dots. They can measure tiny changes in magnetic fields, electric charges, or fluorescence signals caused by biomolecules like proteins, DNA, lipids, carbohydrates and metabolites. This review explains the fundamental principles behind QS and explores how various physical platforms are used to detect and study biomolecules. It highlights recent breakthroughs in detecting single molecules, monitoring enzymatic reactions in real time, and imaging biological structures with quantum-level detail. We also discuss how nanotechnology is powering the field, improving integration through nanoparticle coupling, microfluidics, and specialized bio interfaces to target and amplify signals in practical settings. This review discusses current efforts to overcome existing challenges and highlights future directions, including the development of quantum-enhanced clinical sensors, integration with artificial intelligence for data analysis, and hybrid quantum–classical sensing strategies. These advances are expected to accelerate the translation of quantum biosensing technologies from laboratory demonstrations to practical clinical and environmental applications in the coming decade.
Quantum sensing is a paradigm shift in measurement science. It uses the intrinsic quantum properties of particles and their wave functions, such as superposition, entanglement, and coherence, to achieve unparalleled sensitivity, precision, and miniaturization. This paper provides a practical engineering perspective on quantum sensing, linking foundational quantum principles to real-world applications. It reviews key enabling technologies, such as single-photon detectors, which can detect individual photons with high efficiency and low noise; nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamonds, which sense nanoscale magnetic and electric fields at room temperature; and Rydberg atoms, which detect precise electromagnetic fields using optical techniques. Additionally, we examine the integration of quantum sensing approaches with optical fiber systems, high-lighting advances in distributed sensing capabilities enabled by quantum detectors. The discussion emphasizes the advantages of quantum measurement techniques over classical methods. Finally, it outlines the emerging domain of quantum sensing applications and the ongoing miniaturization and cost reduction of quantum devices, demonstrating their potential to transform multiple scientific and industrial fields.