Scientific experiments and medical diagnostics rely heavily on optical measurements.Single Quantum pioneers a ground-breaking new technology based on detecting single photons with superconducting nanowires, combining the world’s highest detection efficiency with time resolution and noise performances without any compromises. However these detectors were meant for the scientific quantum optics market. This project has been developed to enhance this system for the larger industrial domain, focusing initially on bioimaging. Single Quantum already sold dozens of systems in several quantum market domains. Following a strong market pull from the scientific quantum communication market Single Quantum has established its technology already as the standard in this market. Our customers here are academic researchers, research institutions and companies developing quantum cryptography systems, such as Toshiba, Huawei and ID Quantique. At Single Quantum we want to put to use quantum technologies to a wider number of applications, benefitting society and shift the application centre of mass from academia to general-purpose applications. Therefore, we will bring our innovation to a new, larger domain: bioimaging technology. This field is booming, with technologies developed over decades of research now making their way to the market. The race for commercialising the best ultrasensitive detectors, limited only by the laws of physics, has just started and its societal impact could well be comparable to that of the development of the microscope.
The goal of this project is to expand our market from the scientific quantum optics market, that we dominate, to the much larger industrial quantum technologies market for bioimaging. Our potential customers are biologists and chemists whose imaging abilities are limited by the current light detectors. These detectors suffer from low time resolution, low sensitivity, and high noise level. Better imaging will result in a better understanding of fundamental biological processes. In the near future, this will lead to new medical imaging techniques, resulting in faster, more efficient and more accurate diagnostics and treatments and ultimately tob etter care at lower cost.
The overall objective of this SME Instrument Phase 2 project is to take our single photon detection system to full commercial maturity (TRL9). We have determined four smaller objectives to take the innovation to the market:
1) Component optimisation and core technology development: engineering of design improvements for the system for bioimaging applications, optimising the overall efficiency to enable optimal live imaging and, optimising time resolution for the highest spatial resolution – automated cryostat control for optimised user-friendliness – Hereby also reducing the cost of goods for all modules by 25%
2) Expansion of the production capacity
3) Demonstrate and assess the performance: demonstrate the developed systems to potential customers, verify robustness, reliability, and performance and implement feedback immediately to ensure a lean development.
4) After testing and validation, we aim to commercialise the system in the scientific and clinical bio-imaging market by attracting customers and business partners and to create market demand, developing a business plan and commercialisation strategy and establish agreements with key customers and early adapters in the European scientific and clinical bio-imaging market.
During the project we have reached these 4 objectives.
