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Review
. 2022 Nov;63(11):2745-2753.
doi: 10.1111/epi.17368. Epub 2022 Aug 9.

Wearable OPM-MEG: A changing landscape for epilepsy

Mangor Pedersen  1 , David F Abbott  2   3 , Graeme D Jackson  2   3
Affiliations
Review

Wearable OPM-MEG: A changing landscape for epilepsy

Mangor Pedersen et al. Epilepsia. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

Magnetoencephalography with optically pumped magnometers (OPM-MEG) is an emerging and novel, cost-effective wearable system that can simultaneously record neuronal activity with high temporal resolution ("when" neuronal activity occurs) and spatial resolution ("where" neuronal activity occurs). This paper will first outline recent methodological advances in OPM-MEG compared to conventional superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID)-MEG before discussing how OPM-MEG can become a valuable and noninvasive clinical support tool in epilepsy surgery evaluation. Although OPM-MEG and SQUID-MEG share similar data features, OPM-MEG is a wearable design that fits children and adults, and it is also robust to head motion within a magnetically shielded room. This means that OPM-MEG can potentially extend the application of MEG into the neurobiology of severe childhood epilepsies with intellectual disabilities (e.g., epileptic encephalopathies) without sedation. It is worth noting that most OPM-MEG sensors are heated, which may become an issue with large OPM sensor arrays (OPM-MEG currently has fewer sensors than SQUID-MEG). Future implementation of triaxial sensors may alleviate the need for large OPM sensor arrays. OPM-MEG designs allowing both awake and sleep recording are essential for potential long-term epilepsy monitoring.

Keywords: EEG; MEG; MRI; OPM-MEG; brain surgery; epilepsy.

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Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors has any conflict of interest to disclose. We confirm that we have read the Journal's position on issues involved in ethical publication and affirm that this report is consistent with those guidelines.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Optically pumped magnetometer (OPM)–magnetoencephalography (MEG) system. (A) Fundamental principles of OPMs. (B) An overview of the OPM‐MEG system including the shielded room, sensors, and equipment. (C) OPM‐MEG helmet system and (D) its available sensors. (E) Average field magnitude of OPM‐MEG. (F) OPM sensors in one epilepsy subject and (G) a comparison between electroencephalographic (EEG) and OPM‐MEG epileptiform activity (note signals are not spatially aligned). (H) OPM‐MEG and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID)–MEG epileptiform activity and source localization. DAQ, digital aquisition system; MSR, magnetically shielded room. Images reproduced/amended under open‐access CC‐BY 4.0 licence from the following publications: A, B–E, F–G,. H is reproduced with permission from Figure 2B in Feys et al. [Correction added on 14 September 2022, after first online publication: In the preceding sentence, the text “with permission” was added.]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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