Quantum metrology and its application in biology

Abstract

Quantum metrology provides a route to overcome practical limits in sensing devices. It holds particular relevance to biology, where sensitivity and resolution constraints restrict applications both in fundamental biophysics and in medicine. Here, we review quantum metrology from this biological context, focussing on optical techniques due to their particular relevance for biological imaging, sensing, and stimulation. Our understanding of quantum mechanics has already enabled important applications in biology, including positron emission tomography (PET) with entangled photons, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using nuclear magnetic resonance, and bio-magnetic imaging with superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). In quantum metrology an even greater range of applications arise from the ability to not just understand, but to engineer, coherence and correlations at the quantum level. In the past few years, quite dramatic progress has been seen in applying these ideas into biological systems. Capabilities that have been demonstrated include enhanced sensitivity and resolution, immunity to imaging artifacts and technical noise, and characterisation of the biological response to light at the single-photon level. New quantum measurement techniques offer even greater promise, raising the prospect for improved multi-photon microscopy and magnetic imaging, among many other possible applications. Realization of this potential will require cross-disciplinary input from researchers in both biology and quantum physics. In this review we seek to communicate the developments of quantum metrology in a way that is accessible to biologists and biophysicists, while providing sufficient detail to allow the interested reader to obtain a solid understanding of the field. We further seek to introduce quantum physicists to some of the central challenges of optical measurements in biological science. We hope that this will aid in bridging the communication gap that exists between the fields, and thereby guide the future development of this multidisciplinary research area.

Quantum-enhanced plasmonic sensing

“…The field of quantum metrology takes advantage of non-classical resources to enhance the precision and resolving power of classical measurement techniques beyond the shot noise limit (SNL) [1,2]. In particular, for optical based sensing, this limit defines the minimum noise floor achievable with classical resources and can only be surpassed through the use of quantum states of light such as squeezed or entangled states [3,4].…”

Versatile Gaussian probes for squeezing estimation

“…As a matter of fact, precise measurements and observations are a fundamental part of the scientific method and the possibility of exploiting quantum mechanics in order to improve the estimation precision over the best classical strategy is thus very appealing. Quantum metrology finds application in a wide range of situations where one is interested in gaining precise information about a system or a physical process [8][9][10][11][12].…”

Research of Information Quantization Based on the Quantum Theory

“…Alexey V. Melkikh proposed a model of partially directed evolution [9]. In biological science, Michael A. Taylor [10] and Li [11] further seek to introduce quantum physicists to some of the central challenges of optical measurements. According to quantum game, Łukasz Pawela [12] study the advantages of quantum strategies.…”