NIHR Invests £1.65m in Quantum Health Technology
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has awarded £1.65 million to 17 projects to support the early-stage development of quantum technologies.
Quantum technology solves complex problems, aiming to lead to faster innovation and life-changing breakthroughs.
The projects have been funded through the NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) Funding At the Speed of Translation (FAST) opportunity. This connects leading UK quantum research with clinical expertise and NIHR infrastructure, helping promising technologies move more quickly towards follow-on development and NHS use.
It also involves the 2 quantum research hubs for healthcare co-funded by the NIHR (Q-Biomed and QuSIT), and NIHR infrastructure with a quantum theme.
Professor Mike Lewis, NIHR Scientific Director for Innovation said: “This funding is a major step forward in bringing quantum technology to patients, cementing the UK as Europe’s leader in quantum health innovation. By investing in these 17 projects, we are fast-tracking tools that can diagnose illness earlier and provide life-changing breakthroughs.
“These innovations will transform our health system and improve patients’ lives in the future, building on the momentum of two decades of NIHR-funded research.”
Health and Social Care Minister, Baroness Gillian Merron, said: “Quantum technology has the potential to transform the way we prevent, diagnose and treat disease, helping patients receive faster, better care while supporting our mission to build an NHS fit for the future.
“Through this £1.65 million investment, we’re backing some of the UK’s brightest researchers to turn cutting-edge science into practical innovations that could help detect cancer earlier, support people to monitor long-term conditions from home, and give clinicians better tools to make life-saving decisions.
“This will also strengthen the UK’s position as a global leader in quantum technologies, creating high-skilled jobs and supporting economic growth.”
These projects aim to bridge the gap between quantum physics and patient care in the NHS. By supporting promising technologies at an early stage and making them more relevant for clinical use, the funding helps them move more quickly towards further investment, product development and use in health and care.
Accelerating quantum innovation into healthcare
This use of quantum technology represents another step towards the government’s drive to shift the NHS from analogue to digital. The UK aims to become the first country in the world to deploy Quantum computers at scale by the early 2030s which could add £200 billion to the economy by 2045.
Quantum technology offers new levels of precision for medical diagnostics. The government unveiled a new package of measures to become the first country in the world to roll out Quantum computers at scale in March 2026. These measures aim to help beat disease, deliver high-paid jobs, and strengthen national security. The NIHR-funded projects explore how we can create high-speed systems.
They focus on catching conditions early and shifting services from acute hospital settings into the community. This approach prevents single conditions from becoming complex, long-term health issues. It also reduces the need for frequent, intensive hospital interventions.
By supporting technologies at an early stage, the NIHR is helping build a pipeline of clinically relevant quantum innovations that can attract further development funding, create opportunities for UK companies and researchers, and ultimately improve NHS productivity and patient care.
Funded projects
1. Clinical Matrix Benchmarking of Spin-Modulated Fluorescent Labels for Point of Care Diagnostics – University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
2. Quantum Imaging with Undetected Photons for Breast Cancer Treatment Decision Support – Imperial College London
3. FLHOM Plasma Viscosity Sensing – University of Glasgow
4. Development of a low-cost, portable reader for quantum-enhanced in vitro diagnostics – University College London
5. Quantum sensing to detect neurophysiological signatures of early Alzheimer’s disease – University College London
6. Quantum-Enhanced Clinical Decision Support System (Q-CDSS) For ICU Risk Prediction – University College London
7. Quantum-enabled Single-cell Mitochondrial Sensing for Rheumatoid Arthritis Therapy Stratification – University of Oxford
8. Commodity Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy – University of Glasgow
9. Quantum enabled neuromodulation for memory enhancement – University College London
10. Quantum-enabled wearables for the diagnosis of consciousness in anaesthesia and PDoC – University of Glasgow
11. Quantum PHIP Benchmarking for Clinical Translation – University College London
12. Structured-light Photonic-chip-based OCT – Heriot-Watt University
13. Quantum OCT For Home & Community Based Imaging Of Children’s Eyes – UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
14. Precise Detection of High-Risk Chronic Liver Disease using Diamond Quantum Sensing – University of Nottingham
15. Translating quantum MEG to the NHS: defining environmental and shielding requirements – University of Nottingham
16. Quantum Singlet Oxygen Sensing for Photodynamic Therapy Dosimetry (Q-SOS) – Imperial College London
17. Detection of sleep states using machine learning in optically pumped magnetoencephalography – University College London
