Magnetoencephalography with Optically Pumped Magnetometers (OPM-MEG)
Magnetoencephalography with Optically Pumped Magnetometers (OPM-MEG) is a new way to non-invasively assess brain function. Like conventional MEG, it measures magnetic fields generated by current flow in neural assemblies, and thus provides assessment of brain function in health and disease. However, unlike conventional systems it doesn’t require cryogenically cooled sensors.
Prof Matt Brookes using the OPM MEG scanner, University Park
This means it offers dramatically enhanced performance and practicality; specifically, the system can adapt to any age group (baby to adult) and participants can move freely during scanning; it offers dramatically enhanced signal strength and spatial precision. It is also simpler, and lower cost than conventional MEG.
The University of Nottingham is at the forefront of OPM-MEG, leading on the design, fabrication, testing and commercialisation of the world’s first scanners. Scanners are gaining clinical application; for example exploiting the high performance and lifespan compliance to map the brain areas responsible for seizures in children and young people with epilepsy.
Figure: A timeline of OPM-MEG development in Nottingham. A conventional MEG scanner is shown on the left. OPM development started in 2017 with magnetic fields from the brain measured by a single sensor (channel). By 2018 researchers had found a way to integrate 13 sensors, and record brain function in a moving participant – making the system “wearable”. The system was expanded to provide whole brain coverage with 50 channels by 2020, and the team are now working on an integrated wearable 128 channel system. OPM-MEG was commercialised in 2021 by UoN spin out company Cerca Magnetics Limited.