The Denmark-based Novo Nordisk Foundation has announced a DKK 150 million ($21.7 million) commitment to establish the Copenhagen Center for Biomedical Quantum Sensing.

The center will house an international research collaboration which aims to develop novel quantum sensing principles and techniques for early detection of diseases. Quantum sensing technology will enable the detection of faint signals buried deep within the body, such as weak electromagnetic impulses from nerves, the heart, or the brain. The research project will include the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, and the University of Texas at Austin with a goal to develop and use novel quantum sensing principles and techniques for biomedical diagnostics that can operate near and beyond standard quantum limits of sensitivity.

"Quantum sensing is among the most mature of the quantum technologies and holds the potential to greatly improve medical diagnostics,” said Novo Nordisk Foundation senior vice president of natural and technical sciences Lene Oddershede. “Denmark has a stronghold in quantum sensing, and with this grant we want to enable further development and translation of this powerful technology from the laboratories to clinical applications.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/ViktorCap)