(Forbes) The processing power that quantum computing promises opens the door to the goal that the healthcare and pharma industries have long sought out. That goal is to be predictive and preventative, rather than reactive and delayed. While today, most sophisticated technologies allow to cure a large variety of conditions, it is hoped for quantum computing and its incredible power to foresee and effectively uproot such conditions ahead of time.
One sure application will be leveraging quantum computers’ ability to lead operations as well as conduct analysis and solutions at superspeeds. The healthcare and pharma industries are notoriously encumbered with slow and costly trial processes that affect the turnaround times for drug development and implementation.
While there have been efforts to speed these processes up through AI, machine learning and other cutting-edge technologies, quantum computing opens a different set of possibilities for them to reach the next level and cut down on months and even years of research and experimentation.
While testing on living organisms and cells is one way to advance achievements in the pharma and healthcare space, quantum computing can also enable a new type of experimentation and testing that is not feasible today due to the limitations of the current technology. Known as in silico clinical trials, these experiments are conducted in a completely simulated environment. According to the Medical Futurist, what quantum computing can do is fuel the creation of virtual environments where professionals will be able to analyze variables like body fluids, circulation, electrolytes, hormones, metabolism and skin temperature on digital replicas of humans.
NOTE: Author Gary Fowler is a serial AI entrepreneur with 17 startups and an IPO. He is CEO and co-founder of GSDVS.com and Yva.ai.