Cleveland Clinic and IBM on Monday announced the initial deployment of what they say is a potentially transformative quantum computing initiative that could turbocharge healthcare research.

WHY IT MATTERS
The new IBM Quantum System One now deployed at Cleveland Clinic is being touted as the first on-site private sector IBM-managed quantum computer in the United States, and will be the first such machine in the world to be dedicated solely to healthcare research.

The goal is to bring that unprecedented computing power to help Cleveland Clinic speed their biomedical discoveries across an array of clinical and pharmaceutical needs, researchers say.

The massive new computer is part of the Cleveland Clinic-IBM Discovery Accelerator project, first announced in 2021 with the aim of helping researchers from both organizations work together to apply leading-edge technologies – including high-performance computing via the hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence – to enormous datasets for enhanced research insights.

The accelerator's projects so far include development of quantum computing pipelines to screen and optimize drugs targeted to specific proteins; improved quantum-enhanced prediction models for cardiovascular risk following non-cardiac surgery, and AI applications to search genome sequencing findings and large drug-target databases for more effective Alzheimer's drugs.

THE LARGER TREND
Quantum computing has been eyed by health IT professionals for more than decade as a potential game-changer for advancing innovative new therapeutics and treatment interventions. By harnessing quantum mechanics, the fast-evolving technology offers vastly expanded computing power.

These machines operate using so-called quantum bits, or qubits, that can exist in what's referred to as "superposition." They can be ones or zeroes, or they can be in multiple states at once. That means, while a typical computer can tackle one challenge at a time, quantum machines can power through many different computations at once – offering a horsepower that far outpaces even advanced conventional supercomputers.

"When you string several qubits together, instead of operating on one bit at a time, you can operate on the superposition of exponentially many bits at the same time," one expert told Healthcare IT News in 2013. "There's a fundamentally different mechanism available because you're harnessing different physical principles."

"The exponential computing speedup offered by quantum computers will enable machine learning algorithms to rapidly identify patterns in healthcare data collected from millions of participating patients," another engineer told us in 2019, explaining that medical imaging and pathology would be two areas poised to benefit immensely.

The 10-year Discovery Accelerator partnership between Cleveland Clinic and IBM was first announced in 2021.

The collaboration also emphasized a focus on education, training and workforce development, from high school to the professional level, with the goal of creating new quantum computing jobs in the Cleveland area.

ON THE RECORD
"This is a pivotal milestone in our innovative partnership with IBM, as we explore new ways to apply the power of quantum computing to healthcare," said Cleveland Clinic CEO Dr. Tom Mihaljevic in a statement announcing the deployment of IBM Quantum System One. 

"This technology holds tremendous promise in revolutionizing healthcare and expediting progress toward new cares, cures and solutions for patients," he said. "Quantum and other advanced computing technologies will help researchers tackle historic scientific bottlenecks and potentially find new treatments for patients with diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's and diabetes."

"With the unveiling of IBM Quantum System One at Cleveland Clinic, their team of world-class researchers can now explore and uncover new scientific advancements in biomedical research," added IBM CEO Arvind Krishna. "By combining the power of quantum computing, artificial intelligence and other next-generation technologies with Cleveland Clinic's world-renowned leadership in healthcare and life sciences, we hope to ignite a new era of accelerated discovery."

Aimee Cardwell will offer more detail at her HIMSS23 session "The Defender's Advantage: Winning by Using the High Ground." It is scheduled for Tuesday, April 18, at 3-4 p.m. CT at the South Building, Level 4, in room S406 B.