Source localization of brain activity using helium-free interferometer

Journal Article · Mon May 26 04:00:00 EDT 2014 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4880097· OSTI ID:22300119

Dammers, Jürgen; Chocholacs, Harald; Eich, Eberhard; Boers, Frank ^[1]; Faley, Michael; Dunin-Borkowski, Rafal E. ^[2]; Jon Shah, N. ^[1]

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1. Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-4), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich (Germany)
2. Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI-5), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich (Germany)

To detect extremely small magnetic fields generated by the human brain, currently all commercial magnetoencephalography (MEG) systems are equipped with low-temperature (low-T{sub c}) superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) sensors that use liquid helium for cooling. The limited and increasingly expensive supply of helium, which has seen dramatic price increases recently, has become a real problem for such systems and the situation shows no signs of abating. MEG research in the long run is now endangered. In this study, we report a MEG source localization utilizing a single, highly sensitive SQUID cooled with liquid nitrogen only. Our findings confirm that localization of neuromagnetic activity is indeed possible using high-T{sub c} SQUIDs. We believe that our findings secure the future of this exquisitely sensitive technique and have major implications for brain research and the developments of cost-effective multi-channel, high-T{sub c} SQUID-based MEG systems.

• OSTI ID: 22300119
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 21 Vol. 104; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BRAIN
COOLING
CURRENTS
EQUIPMENT
HIGH-TC SUPERCONDUCTORS
INTERFEROMETERS
LIQUIDS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MEN
SENSORS
SQUID DEVICES