Electrophysiology · reads
OPM-MEG uses small quantum sensors worn directly on the scalp, recording inside a magnetically shielded room without cryogenic cooling, though each sensor's vapor cell is heated to about 150°C. It reads the weak magnetic fields produced by brain activity, an indirect measure from which the net electrical currents in neurons' receiving branches are inferred. Sitting closer to the brain than fixed cryogenic helmets, the sensors give larger signals and allow head movement.
OPM-MEG uses compact quantum sensors worn directly on the scalp to record neural magnetic fields. It needs no cryogenic cooling or liquid helium, although each sensor’s vapor cell is heated to about 150°C to increase vapor density. Recording occurs in a low-field region created by field-nulling coils inside a magnetically shielded room. Compared with intrinsically more sensitive sensors in a fixed adult-sized cryogenic SQUID helmet, scalp-mounted OPMs lie closer to neural sources, producing larger measured signals and sampling higher spatial frequencies. They can form wearable whole-head arrays that remain fixed relative to the head and permit movement.
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