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The marathon to achieve the promise of quantum computers hasedged a few steps forward as Intel unveils a new chip capable, it believes, of accelerating the process.

Called Horse Ridgeand named after one of the coldest places in Oregon, the system-on-chip can control a total of 128 qubits (quantum bits) which is more than double the number of qubits Intel heralded in its Tangle Lake test chip in early 2018.

While companies like IBM and Microsoft have been leapfrogging each other with systems capable of handling ever greater qubits the breakthrough in this case appears to be an ability to lead to more efficient quantum computers by allowing one chip to handle more tasks. It is therefore a step toward moving quantum computing from the lab and into real commercial viability.

Applying quantum computing to practical problems hinges on the ability to scale, and control, thousands of qubits at the same time with high levels of fidelity. Intel suggests Horse Ridge greatly simplifies current complex electronics required to operate a quantum system.

To recap why this is important lets take it for read that Quantum computing has the potential to tackle problems conventional computers cant by leveraging a phenomena of quantum physics: that Qubits can exist in multiple states simultaneously. As a result, they are able to conduct a large number of calculations at the same time.

This can dramatically speed up complex problem-solving from years to a matter of minutes. But in order for these qubits to do their jobs, hundreds of connective wires have to be strung into and out of the cryogenic refrigerator where quantum computing occurs (at temperatures colder than deep space).

The extensive control cabling for each qubit drastically hinders the ability to control the hundreds or thousands of qubits that will be required to demonstrate quantum practicality in the lab not to mention the millions of qubits that will be required for a commercially viable quantum solution in the real world.

Researchers outlined the capability of Horse Ridge in a paper presented at the 2020 International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco and co-written by collaborators at Dutch institute QuTech.

The integrated SoC design is described as being implemented using Intels 22nm FFL (FinFET Low Power) CMOS technology and integrates four radio frequency channels into a single device. Each channel is able to control up to 32 qubits leveraging frequency multiplexing a technique that divides the total bandwidth available into a series of non-overlapping frequency bands, each of which is used to carry a separate signal.

With these four channels, Horse Ridge can potentially control up to 128 qubits with a single device, substantially reducing the number of cables and rack instrumentations previously required.

The paper goes on to argue that increases in qubit count trigger other issues that challenge the capacity and operation of the quantum system. One such potential impact is a decline in qubit fidelity and performance. In developing Horse Ridge, Intel optimised the multiplexing technology that enables the system to scale and reduce errors from crosstalk among qubits.

While developing control systems isnt, evidently, as hype-worthy as the increase in qubit count has been, it is a necessity, says Jim Clarke, director of quantum hardware, Intel Labs. Horse Ridge could take quantum practicality to the finish line much faster than is currently possible. By systematically working to scale to thousands of qubits required for quantum practicality, were continuing to make steady progress toward making commercially viable quantum computing a reality in our future.

Intels own research suggests it will most likely take at least thousands of qubits working reliably together before the first practical problems can be solved via quantum computing. Other estimates suggest it will require at least one million qubits.

Intel is exploring silicon spin qubits, which have the potential to operate at temperatures as high as 1 kelvin. This research paves the way for integrating silicon spin qubit devices and the cryogenic controls of Horse Ridge to create a solution that delivers the qubits and controls in one package.

Quantum computer applications are thought to include drug development high on the worlds list of priorities just now, logistics optimisation (that is, finding the most efficient way from any number of possible travel routes) and natural disaster prediction.

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New Intel chip could accelerate the advent of quantum computing - RedShark News

Last year, researchers at Fermilab received over $3.5 million for projects that delve into the burgeoning field of quantum information science. Research funded by the grant runs the gamut, from building and modeling devices for possible use in the development of quantum computers to using ultracold atoms to look for dark matter.

For their quantum computer project, Fermilab particle physicist Adam Lyon and computer scientist Jim Kowalkowski are collaborating with researchers at Argonne National Laboratory, where theyll be running simulations on high-performance computers. Their work will help determine whether instruments called superconducting radio-frequency cavities, also used in particle accelerators, can solve one of the biggest problems facing the successful development of a quantum computer: the decoherence of qubits.

Fermilab has pioneered making superconducting cavities that can accelerate particles to an extremely high degree in a short amount of space, said Lyon, one of the lead scientists on the project. It turns out this is directly applicable to a qubit.

Researchers in the field have worked on developing successful quantum computing devices for the last several decades; so far, its been difficult. This is primarily because quantum computers have to maintain very stable conditions to keep qubits in a quantum state called superposition.

Superconducting radio-frequency cavities, such as the one seen here, are used in particle accelerators. They can also solve one of the biggest problems facing the successful development of a quantum computer: the decoherence of qubits. Photo: Reidar Hahn, Fermilab

Superposition

Classical computers use a binary system of 0s and 1s called bits to store and analyze data. Eight bits combined make one byte of data, which can be strung together to encode even more information. (There are about 31.8 million bytes in the average three-minute digital song.) In contrast, quantum computers arent constrained by a strict binary system. Rather, they operate on a system of qubits, each of which can take on a continuous range of states during computation. Just as an electron orbiting an atomic nucleus doesnt have a discrete location but rather occupies all positions in its orbit at once in an electron cloud, a qubit can be maintained in a superposition of both 0 and 1

Since there are two possible states for any given qubit, a pair doubles the amount of information that can be manipulated: 22 = 4. Use four qubits, and that amount of information grows to 24 = 16. With this exponential increase, it would take only 300 entangled qubits to encode more information than there is matter in the universe.

Qubits can be in a superposition of 0 and 1, while classical bits can be only one or the other. Image: Jerald Pinson

Parallel positions

Qubits dont represent data in the same way as bits. Because qubits in superposition are both 0 and 1 at the same time, they can similarly represent all possible answers to a given problem simultaneously. This is called quantum parallelism, and its one of the properties that makes quantum computers so much faster than classical systems.

The difference between classical computers and their quantum counterparts could be compared to a situation in which there is a book with some pages randomly printed in blue ink instead of black. The two computers are given the task of determining how many pages were printed in each color.

A classical computer would go through every page, Lyon said. Each page would be marked, one at a time, as either being printed in black or in blue. A quantum computer, instead of going through the pages sequentially, would go through them all at once.

Once the computation was complete, a classical computer would give you a definite, discrete answer. If the book had three pages printed in blue, thats the answer youd get.

But a quantum computer is inherently probabilistic, Kowalkowski said.

This means the data you get back isnt definite. In a book with 100 pages, the data from a quantum computer wouldnt be just three. It also could give you, for example, a 1 percent chance of having three blue pages or a 1 percent chance of 50 blue pages.

An obvious problem arises when trying to interpret this data. A quantum computer can perform incredibly fast calculations using parallel qubits, but it spits out only probabilities, which, of course, isnt very helpful unless, that is, the right answer could somehow be given a higher probability.

Interference

Consider two water waves that approach each other. As they meet, they may constructively interfere, producing one wave with a higher crest. Or they may destructively interfere, canceling each other so that theres no longer any wave to speak of. Qubit states can also act as waves, exhibiting the same patterns of interference, a property researchers can exploit to identify the most likely answer to the problem theyre given.

If you can set up interference between the right answers and the wrong answers, you can increase the likelihood that the right answers pop up more than the wrong answers, Lyon said. Youre trying to find a quantum way to make the correct answers constructively interfere and the wrong answers destructively interfere.

When a calculation is run on a quantum computer, the same calculation is run multiple times, and the qubits are allowed to interfere with one another. The result is a distribution curve in which the correct answer is the most frequent response.

When waves meet, they may constructively interfere, producing one wave with a higher crest. Image: Jerald Pinson

Waves may also destructively interfere, canceling each other so that theres no longer any wave to speak of. Image: Jerald Pinson

Listening for signals above the noise

In the last five years, researchers at universities, government facilities and large companies have made encouraging advancements toward the development of a useful quantum computer. Last year, Google announced that it had performed calculations on their quantum processor called Sycamore in a fraction of the time it would have taken the worlds largest supercomputer to complete the same task.

Yet the quantum devices that we have today are still prototypes, akin to the first large vacuum tube computers of the 1940s.

The machines we have now dont scale up much at all, Lyon said.

Theres still a few hurdles researchers have to overcome before quantum computers become viable and competitive. One of the largest is finding a way to keep delicate qubit states isolated long enough for them to perform calculations.

If a stray photon a particle of light from outside the system were to interact with a qubit, its wave would interfere with the qubits superposition, essentially turning the calculations into a jumbled mess a process called decoherence. While the refrigerators do a moderately good job at keeping unwanted interactions to a minimum, they can do so only for a fraction of a second.

Quantum systems like to be isolated, Lyon said, and theres just no easy way to do that.

When a quantum computer is operating, it needs to be placed in a large refrigerator, like the one pictured here, to cool the device to less than a degree above absolute zero. This is done to keep energy from the surrounding environment from entering the machine. Photo: Reidar Hahn, Fermilab

Which is where Lyon and Kowalkowskis simulation work comes in. If the qubits cant be kept cold enough to maintain an entangled superposition of states, perhaps the devices themselves can be constructed in a way that makes them less susceptible to noise.

It turns out that superconducting cavities made of niobium, normally used to propel particle beams in accelerators, could be the solution. These cavities need to be constructed very precisely and operate at very low temperatures to efficiently propagate the radio waves that accelerate particle beams. Researchers theorize that by placing quantum processors in these cavities, the qubits will be able to interact undisturbed for seconds rather than the current record of milliseconds, giving them enough time to perform complex calculations.

Qubits come in several different varieties. They can be created by trapping ions within a magnetic field or by using nitrogen atoms surrounded by the carbon lattice formed naturally in crystals. The research at Fermilab and Argonne will be focused on qubits made from photons.

Lyon and his team have taken on the job of simulating how well radio-frequency cavities are expected to perform. By carrying out their simulations on high-performance computers, known as HPCs, at Argonne National Laboratory, they can predict how long photon qubits can interact in this ultralow-noise environment and account for any unexpected interactions.

Researchers around the world have used open-source software for desktop computers to simulate different applications of quantum mechanics, providing developers with blueprints for how to incorporate the results into technology. The scope of these programs, however, is limited by the amount of memory available on personal computers. In order to simulate the exponential scaling of multiple qubits, researchers have to use HPCs.

Going from one desktop to an HPC, you might be 10,000 times faster, said Matthew Otten, a fellow at Argonne National Laboratory and collaborator on the project.

Once the team has completed their simulations, the results will be used by Fermilab researchers to help improve and test the cavities for acting as computational devices.

If we set up a simulation framework, we can ask very targeted questions on the best way to store quantum information and the best way to manipulate it, said Eric Holland, the deputy head of quantum technology at Fermilab. We can use that to guide what we develop for quantum technologies.

This work is supported by the Department of Energy Office of Science.

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Particle accelerator technology could solve one of the most vexing problems in building quantum computers - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Between tiny AI and unhackable internet, this decade's tech trends will revolutionize the business world.

MIT Technology Review unveiled its top 10 breakthrough technology predictions on Wednesday. The trends--which include hype-inducing tech like quantum computing and unhackable internet--are expected to become realities in the next decade, changing the enterprise and world.

SEE: Internet of Things: Progress, risks, and opportunities (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

While many of the trends have a more scientific background, most can also apply to business, said David Rotman editor at MIT Technology Review.

"Even though some of these sound science-y or research-y, all really do have important implications and business impacts. [For example], unhackable internet," Rotman said. "It's early, but we can all see why that would be a big deal.

"Digital money will change how we do commerce; satellite mega constellations will potentially change how we do communications and the price of communications," Rotman added.The methodology behind determining the breakthrough technologies focused on what writers, editors, and journalists have been reporting on in the past year. All of the technologies are still being developed and improved in labs, Rotman said.

The MIT Technology Review outlined the following 10 most exciting technologies being created and deployed in the next 10 years.

One of the most exciting technologies of the bunch, according to Rotman, quantum supremacy indicates that quantum computers are not only becoming a reality, but the functionality is becoming even more advanced.Murmurs of quantum computer development have floated around the enterprise. The technology is able to process massive computational solutions faster than any supercomputer.

While this form of computing hasn't been widely used yet, it will not only be usable by 2030, but possibly reach quantum supremacy, MIT found.

"Quantum supremacy is the point where a quantum computer can do something that a classical conventional computer cannot do or take hundreds of years for a classical computer to do," Rotman said.

The technology is now getting to the point where people can test them in their businesses and try different applications, and will become more popular in the coming years, Rotman said.

Quantum computers are especially useful for massive scheduling or logistical problems, which can be particularly useful in large corporations with many moving parts, he added.

"Satellites have become so small and relatively cheap that people are sending up whole clusters of these satellites," Rotman said. "It's going to have an enormous impact on communication and all the things that we rely on satellites for."

These satellites could be able to cover the entire globe with high-speed internet. Applications of satellite mega-constellation use are currently being tested by companies including SpaceX, OneWeb, Amazon, and Telesat, according to the report.

Another interesting, and surprising, technology in the study concerned tiny AI. The surprising nature of this comes with how quickly AI is growing, Rotman said.

Starting in the present day, AI will become even more functional, independently running on phones and wearables. This ability would prevent devices from needing the cloud to use AI-driven features, Rotman said.

"It's not just a first step, but it would be an important step in speeding up the search for new drugs," Rotman said.

Scientists have used AI to find drug-like compounds with specific desirable characteristics. In the next three to five years, new drugs might be able to be commercialized for a lesser cost, compared to the current $2.5 billion it takes to currently commercialize a new drug, the report found.

Researchers are now able to detect climate change's role in extreme weather conditions. With this discovery, scientists can help people better prepare for severe weather, according to the report.

In less than five years, researchers will find drugs that treat ailments based on the body's natural aging process, the report found. Potentially, diseases including cancer, heart disease and dementia could be treated by slowing age.

Within five years, the internet could be unhackable, the report found.

Researchers are using quantum encryption to try and make an unhackable internet, which is particularly important as data privacy concerns heighten, Rotman said.

Digital money, also known as cryptocurrency, will become more widely used in 2020. However, the rise of this money will also have major impacts on financial privacy, as the need for an intermediary becomes less necessary, according to the report.

Occupying three trends on the list, medicine is proving to potentially be a huge area for innovation. Currently, doctors and researchers are designing novel drugs to treat unique genetic mutations. These specialized drugs could cure some ailments that were previously uncurable, the report found.

Differential privacy is a technique currently being used by the US government collecting data for the 2020 census. The US Census Bureau has issues keeping the data it collects private, but this tactic helps to anonymize the data, a tactic other countries may also adopt, according to the report.

For more, check out Forget quantum supremacy: This quantum-computing milestone could be just as important on ZDNet.

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Top 10 breakthrough technologies of 2020 - TechRepublic

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When you hear quantum computing, what do you think of? Mathematical equations swirling around you? Einstein standing at a blackboard? A computer running extensive code? Quantum computing may initially sound confusing, but it is currently a big factor in where banks are moving. According to IBM , quantum computers provide the potential for quite a few developments in the fields of science and finance. From medications to machine learning diagnosis to financial strategies for retirement, these are just some of the ways quantum computing has real-life impacts. It can also drastically impact banking as we know it. Here is what you should know.

Quantum computing 101

Quantum computing as its name would suggest is computing based on the principles of quantum theory. A classic computer encodes information in the binary value of 1 or 0, which ultimately restricts their ability. Conversely, quantum computing differs by manipulating its information utilizing quantum mechanical phenomena also known as 'qubits. The difference is that subatomic participles allow them to exist in more than one state simultaneously, which means that you can have both a 1 and a 0. The topic largely relies on the ideas of superposition and entanglement which are not used in typical computing. By bring quantum physics into computing, you create new avenues and developments.

How does quantum computing serve banks?

Security is one of the most significant problems that banks are faced with. As such, they are constantly reviewing their current systems and seeking new technology that could add to their defenses. Quantum computing is one of those technologies that could change the ways that banks protect themselves.

According to Deltec Bank, Bahamas - 'Quantum computing could help build systems that protect vital customer information and transaction details and safeguard against market vulnerability and financial crashes. That said, the technology is not being used to its fullest potential yet. It might take some time before quantum computers have the ability to overtake traditional computers, but when they do, it will be a swift switch because it is a better option overall.

It is becoming known as the 'quantum advantage to use quantum computing to run everyday banking tasks rather than a traditional computer. It is more efficient and more secure, which has both customers and banks on board.

Are there any other impacts?

The impact of quantum computing on banking is enormous. Big names in banking like JP Morgan and Barclays are preparing to make the switch. IBM has released a full report detailing the potential uses and applications of quantum computing in the financial sector. Yet, even beyond that, there is a prediction that quantum computing may be competition for another well-known method of data protection that is on the rise. Some believe that quantum encryption could actually eclipse blockchain, which is key to the use of cryptocurrencies as it stores information about monetary transactions. Quantum encryption enables banks to send highly secure data over its quantum network.

Final thoughts

'The greatest benefit of quantum computing is that it provides banks a highly secure way to solve problems that were at one point very resource-intensive or entirely impossible to complete, says Deltec Bank, Bahamas That said, will quantum computing change the face of banking as we know it tomorrow? Probably not.

The technology exists and is being tested to see how it can be practically implemented. Banks must calculate financial models due to complex hardware requirements and that takes time. The most important takeaway is that the technology exists and it is something that banks are both aware of and working towards. When a new system is capable of running the same calculations in a matter of seconds and provides the high level of security necessary for financial transactions, it is only a matter of time before it begins to see massive implementation.

Disclaimer: The author of this text, Robin Trehan, has an Undergraduate degree in economics, Masters in international business and finance and MBA in electronic business. Trehan is Senior VP at Deltec International http://www.deltecbank.com . The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this text are solely the views of the author, and not necessarily reflecting the views of Deltec International Group, its subsidiaries and/or employees.

About Deltec Bank

Headquartered in The Bahamas, Deltec is an independent financial services group that delivers bespoke solutions to meet clients' unique needs. The Deltec group of companies includes Deltec Bank & Trust Limited, Deltec Fund Services Limited, and Deltec Investment Advisers Limited, Deltec Securities Ltd. and Long Cay Captive Management.

Media Contact Company Name: Deltec International Group Contact Person: Media Manager Email: Send Email Phone: 242 302 4100 Country: Bahamas Website: https://www.deltecbank.com/

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Quantum Computing Will Have a Huge Impact on Banking, says Deltec Bank Bahamas - MENAFN.COM

The past decade was about the rise of digital health technology and patient empowerment. The next decade will be about artificial intelligence, the use of health sensors and the so-called Internet of Healthy Things and how it could improve millions of lives.

The cultural transformation of health care we call digital health has been changing the hierarchy in care into an equal-level partnership between patients and physicians as 21st century technologies have started breaking down the ivory tower of medicine. But these milestones are nothing compared with what is about to become reality.

With advancements in exoskeleton technology, AIs ever-increasing importance in health care, and technologies like 5G and quantum computing soon going mainstream, theres much to be excited about.

Here are the five biggest themes for health and medicine for the next 10 years.

Artificial intelligence in medicine

Developments in artificial intelligence will dominate the next decade. Machine learning is a method for creating artificial narrow intelligence narrow refers to doing one task extremely well and a field of computer science that enables computers to learn without being explicitly programmed, building on top of computational statistics and data mining. The field has different types: it could be supervised, unsupervised, semi-supervised or reinforcement learning, among others. It has an unprecedented potential to transform health-care processes and medical tasks in the future and it has already started its invisible revolution.

If we consider how AlphaGo, the AI developed by Googles DeepMind lab, beat world champion Lee Sedol at the classic Chinese game Go by coming up with inventive moves that took experts by surprise, we can get a glimpse at what AI can hold for health care. Such moves were made possible by the combination of neural networks and reinforcement learning that this AI uses. This enabled the software to operate without the restrictions of human cognitive limitations, devise its own strategy and output decisions that baffled experts.

We can expect to see the same surprises in medical settings. Imagine new drugs designed by such algorithms; high-level analysis of tens of millions of studies for a diagnosis; or drug combinations nobody has thought of before. When applied to medicine, an algorithm trained via reinforcement learning could discover treatments and cures for conditions when human medical professionals could not. Cracking the reasoning behind such unconventional and novel approaches will herald the true era of art in medicine.

In global health, for example, an algorithm can provide a reliable map of future measles outbreak hot spots. It uses statistics on measles vaccination rates and disease outbreaks from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as non-traditional health data, including social media and a huge range of medical records. Thats just one example, but the field is already buzzing with smart algorithms that can facilitate the search for new drug targets; improve the speed of clinical trials or spot tumors on computed tomography (CT) scans.

However, while experts believe that AI will not replace medical professionals, it also seems true that medical professionals who use AI will replace those who dont.

A myriad of health sensors

Medical technology went through an amazing development in the 2010s, and theres now no single square centimeter of the human body without quantifiable data. For example, AliveCors Kardia and Apple Watch measure electrocardiogram and detect atrial fibrillation with high sensitivity. The EKO Core digital stethoscope records heart and lung sounds as a digital stethoscope, while blood pressure is monitored with the Omron Blood Pressure Smartwatch, the MOCAcare pocket sensor, and blood pressure cuff, the iHealth Clear, the Skeeper, a pocket cardiologist, or the Withings Blood Pressure Monitor, and of course, dozens of traditional blood pressure cuffs.

There are dozens of health trackers for respiration, sleep, and, of course, movement. And while researchers cant decipher your dreams yet they are working on it, alongside figuring out all kinds of brain activity. For example, through EEG. Thats a method that records electrical activity in the brain using electrodes attached externally to the scalp. The NeuroSky biosensor and the Muse headband use it to understand the mind better and in the latter case allow for more effective meditation. As you see, theres not much left unmeasured in your body and it will even intensify in the future. For example, we expect digital tattoos to become commercially available within five years, which will not only measure the majority of the above-mentioned vital signs, but they will do so continuously. These tiny sensors will notify us when something is about to go wrong and we will need medical advice or intervention.

Moreover, with developments in 3-D printing as well as circuit-printing technologies, flexible electronics and materials, applying so-called digital tattoos or electronic tattoos on the skin for some days or even weeks became possible.

Made of flexible, waterproof materials impervious to stretching and twisting coupled with tiny electrodes, digital tattoos are able to record and transmit information about the wearer to smartphones or other connected devices. While these are only in use in research projects, they could allow health-care experts to monitor and diagnose critical health conditions such as heart arrhythmia, heart activities of premature babies, sleep disorders and brain activities noninvasively. Moreover, by tracking vital signs 24 hours a day, without the need for a charger, it is especially suited for following patients with high risk of stroke, for example. Although we are not there yet, there are certain promising solutions on the market such as MC10s BioStampRC Sensor.

Quantum computing puts medical decision-making on a new level

In 2019, Google claimed quantum supremacy and made the cover of Nature magazine. One example of how this technology will have a major impact on the health-care sector is quantum computing taking medical decision-making to a whole new level and even augmenting it with special skills. What if such computers could offer perfect decision support for doctors? They could skim through all the studies at once, they could find correlations and causations that the human eye would never find, and they might stumble upon diagnoses or treatment options that doctors could have never figured out by themselves.

At the very endpoint of this development, quantum computers could create an elevated version of PubMed, where information would reside in the system but not in the traditional written form it would reside in qubits of data as no one except the computer would read the studies anymore.

In addition, the applications of quantum computing to health care are manifold, ranging from much faster drug design to quicker and cheaper DNA sequencing and analysis to reinforced security over personal medical data. While the technology does hold such promises, we still have to be patient before practical solutions can be implemented in medicine. However, with continued progress in this area, even though quantum computing has been something from a science fiction novel, this decade will see the first such computer used in the clinical practice too.

Chatbots as the first line of care

Symptom checkers that function on the same principle as chatbots are already available, free of charge. However, these rely on the user inputting symptoms and complaints manually. We yearn for one that can make predictions and suggestions based on a users data, like sleep tracking, heart rate and activity collected via wearables. With such features, those bots can help users make healthier choices without having to drag themselves to their doctor.

There was a Black Mirror episode titled Rachel, Jack, and Ashley Too that featured an incredibly smart and emotional chatbot that had human-like conversations with the character. Think about having a similar personalized chatbot thats accessible via your smart device and with additional health and lifestyle features. This chatty virtual being can wake you up at the appropriate time based on your sleep pattern and advise you to take your antihistamines as the pollen concentration is particularly high during your commute that day, before you even get out of bed. It can even recommend what you should consume for each meal based on your nutrigenomic profile. It could find the best words for you to motivate you to go to the gym. It could find the best jokes that help you get into a good mood. But would you rather bend to the rules of an AI, essentially forgoing your freedom of choice, than experience life based more on your own will?

5G serving the whole ecosystem of digital health

5G networks will enable data to be downloaded at more than 1 gigabit per second, allowing for downloads 10 to 100 times faster than the currently available 4G services. 4G networks can only serve around a thousand devices within a square kilometer, while 5G can serve a million. It will make the era of the Internet of Things (IoT) possible by connecting a huge amount of health trackers with laptops, smartphones and many more digital devices. There will be no connection issues or latency, as the trackers will be able to work in harmony while getting the most out of our data.

Such a boost will allow for more reliable communication, which is a must in areas like telesurgery, remote consultation and remote monitoring. With bigger bandwidth and faster connection, there might be a boost in wearables as health IoT networks become more stable and reliable, and further help with patient engagement in relation to their health.

Major applications of 5G are expected to be apparent starting in 2021.

Dr. Bertalan Mesko, Ph.D., is The Medical Futurist and director of The Medical Futurist Institute, analyzing how science fiction technologies can become reality in medicine and healthcare. As a geek physician with a Ph.D. in genomics, he is a keynote speaker and an Amazon Top-100 author.

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The top 5 technologies that will change health care over the next decade - MarketWatch