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Review
. 2020 May;30(2):239-248.
doi: 10.1016/j.nic.2020.02.002. Epub 2020 Apr 1.

Pediatric Magnetoencephalography in Clinical Practice and Research

Christos Papadelis  1 , Yu-Han Chen  2
Affiliations
Review

Pediatric Magnetoencephalography in Clinical Practice and Research

Christos Papadelis et al. Neuroimaging Clin N Am. 2020 May.

Abstract

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a noninvasive neuroimaging technique that measures the electromagnetic fields generated by the human brain. This article highlights the benefits that pediatric MEG has to offer to clinical practice and pediatric research, particularly for infants and young children; reviews the existing literature on adult MEG systems for pediatric use; briefly describes the few pediatric MEG systems currently extant; and draws attention to future directions of research, with focus on the clinical use of MEG for patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.

Keywords: Epilepsy; Interictal spikes; Magnetic source imaging; Source localization.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures This study was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke (RO1NS104116-01A1, PI: C. Papadelis; and R21NS101373-01A1, PIs: C. Papadelis and S. Stufflebeam).

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Simultaneous MEG and high-density EEG recordings from a 4 year-old-girl. Recordings were performed at Cook Children’s Health Care System, Fort Worth, Texas.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
MEG systems specially designed for pediatric use. (Adapted from Chen Y-H, Saby J, Kuschner E, et al. Magnetoencephalography and the infant brain. Neuroimage 2019: 189: 445–458.)
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
IEDs in a 4-year-old girl with history of prolonged febrile seizures and febrile focal-onset seizures with gradual impairment of awareness and ultimately motor involvement, including some clonic activity of either side. Display of magnetometers covering the left frontal (top) and left temporal (bottom) areas. Topography indicates a change of magnetic flux in the left frontotemporal areas. Recordings are performed using the MagView™ system that accommodates 375 magnetometers in a helmet that is specially designed for children up to 4 years old. No sedation was administered during the recording. The recording was performed while the patient was awake.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
MSI findings of IEDs identified in Fig. 3. Localization is performed through ECD. Dipoles with goodness-of-fit greater than 60% were considered and displayed. Dipole cluster is localized in the vicinity of Brodmann area 45 (BA45). Right and left indicates left and right hemispheres. Both images depict a 3D representation of the patient’s brain (the left is on three slices: axial-coronal-sagittal; the right is on a cortical surface).
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.
Pediatric patient with tuberous sclerosis and multiple bilateral cortical and subcortical tubers throughout his cerebrum and with intractable epilepsy. The MEG found 83 interictal spikes over 50 minutes of recording, which all localized to a tuber in the right posterolateral temporal lobe. This aided the neurosurgeons in determining which tuber to resect. (Courtesy of Dr R Lee, MD, San Diego, California.)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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