Wearable magnetoencephalography (MEG): The next-generation of dynamic human neuroimaging

可穿戴脑磁图 (MEG)：下一代动态人类神经成像

• 批准号: 10440948
• 负责人: Tony W Wilson
• 金额: $ 145万
• 依托单位: FATHER FLANAGAN'S BOYS' HOME
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-04-01 至 2023-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10440948
• 关键词: Adult; Area; Attenuated; Award; BRAIN initiative; Child; Childhood; Clinical; Communities; Data; Development; Dimensions; Functional Imaging; Future; Growth; Head; Helium; Helmet; Home; Human; Image; Infant; International; Lead; Liquid substance; Magnetoencephalography; Magnetometries; Measures; Methods; Neurosciences; Optics; Participant; Peer Review; Physics; Population; Productivity; Publications; Publishing; Pump; Research; Role; Scalp structure; Site; Source; Surface; System; Technology; Temperature; Time; Translating; United States National Institutes of Health; Walking; design; experimental study; falls; interest; magnetic field; neuroimaging; neurophysiology; next generation; non-invasive imaging; patient population; relating to nervous system; response; sensor; spatiotemporal; translational neuroscience

Project Summary/Abstract The Omaha magnetoencephalography (MEG) site is home to one of the most productive, internationally-known MEG groups in the world. In 2020 alone, they published over 30 peer-reviewed MEG-centric publications, had numerous major NIH awards, and made high impact discoveries spanning multiple areas of human neuroscience. MEG is an advanced method for noninvasively imaging population-level neurophysiological activity with high temporal (< 1 ms) and spatial precision (2-3 mm). Application of the method has expanded substantially over the past decade due to technical advancements and the growing interest in neural oscillations, dynamic connectivity, and other metrics where spatiotemporal precision is extremely important. The Omaha MEG group has had a major role in this growth and continues to lead the way in many areas of MEG research, often exceeding all other MEG sites on major measures of scientific productivity and impact. However, this group is now at a crossroads where their future growth, and even existence, is threatened by a revolutionary paradigm shift in the field of neurophysiological imaging, and a worldwide helium shortage. Briefly, conventional MEG systems are large and stationary, requiring research participants to sit as still as possible for extended periods of time while undergoing recordings. This creates major challenges for acquiring data in specific patient populations and young children. Further, the dimensions of the sensor array are fixed within the MEG helmet, which is designed to accommodate 98% of adults. This translates into large gaps between the scalp surface and the sensor array in young children and huge gaps in infants. Since the strength of magnetic fields fall off exponentially with increasing distance from the current source (i.e., active neural populations), the net impact of this is strongly attenuated neural responses in children and infants and thus poor precision. Additionally, conventional MEG requires liquid helium to support superconducting temperatures, which is not only very expensive but also increasingly difficult to obtain in the current era of helium shortages. Given these concerns, we are proposing to purchase a state-of-the-art optically- pumped magnetometry (OPM) system. The idea of OPM has been around for decades, but major breakthroughs through President Obama’s BRAIN Initiative have moved the technology from a physics experiment to cutting edge applications in neuroscience. OPM is the future of MEG, as it overcomes the key limitations of conventional systems and in most cases offers superior precision. Specifically, OPM: (1) does not require liquid helium and thus sensors can be placed directly on the scalp for optimal sensitivity, (2) can be fitted to any head size, including pediatric and infant populations, and (3) allows participants to move relatively freely during recordings, making the system ideal for developmental and clinical populations, as well as naturalistic experiments (e.g., walking). Thus, OPM is a significant, major step forward and will give rise to a whole new era of functional imaging. With this technology, the Omaha MEG group will remain at the forefront of discovery in several major topic areas that are described in the proposal and of clear interest to the NIH and the translational neuroscience community.

项目总结/摘要 奥马哈脑磁图（MEG）网站是一个最富有成效的，国际知名的 世界上的MEG集团。仅在2020年，他们就发表了30多篇以MEG为中心的同行评审出版物， 他获得了许多重大NIH奖项，并在人类神经科学的多个领域做出了具有重大影响力的发现。 脑磁图是一种先进的方法，用于无创成像人群水平的神经生理活动， 时间（< 1 ms）和空间精度（2-3 mm）。该方法的应用已大大扩展到 在过去的十年中，由于技术的进步和对神经振荡，动态连接， 以及时空精度极其重要的其他度量。奥马哈MEG集团已经有了一个 在这一增长中发挥了重要作用，并继续在MEG研究的许多领域处于领先地位，往往超过所有其他领域。 关于科学生产力和影响的主要措施的MEG网站。然而，这个群体现在正处于十字路口 在那里，他们的未来增长，甚至存在，受到革命性的范式转变的威胁， 神经生理成像和全球氦气短缺。简而言之，传统的MEG系统很大， 固定，要求研究参与者在进行研究时尽可能长时间静坐 录音.这为获取特定患者人群和幼儿的数据带来了重大挑战。 此外，传感器阵列的尺寸在MEG头盔内是固定的，其被设计成适应 98%的成年人这转化为幼儿头皮表面和传感器阵列之间的大间隙 和巨大的差距。由于磁场的强度随着距离的增加而呈指数下降， 电流源（即，活跃的神经群体），其净影响是强烈减弱的神经反应 在儿童和婴儿中，因此精确度差。此外，传统的MEG需要液氦来支持 超导温度，这不仅是非常昂贵的，而且越来越难以获得在 当前氦短缺的时代。考虑到这些问题，我们建议购买一个最先进的光学- 泵浦磁力仪（OPM）系统。OPM的概念已经存在了几十年，但重大突破 通过奥巴马总统的BRAIN计划， 神经科学的边缘应用。OPM是MEG的未来，因为它克服了传统方法的关键限制。 系统，并在大多数情况下提供上级精度。具体而言，OPM：（1）不需要液氦， 因此，传感器可以直接放置在头皮上以获得最佳灵敏度，（2）可以适合任何头部尺寸，包括 儿童和婴儿人群，以及（3）允许参与者在记录期间相对自由地移动， 该系统非常适合发育和临床人群，以及自然实验（例如，步行）。 因此，OPM是向前迈出的重要一步，并将开创功能成像的全新时代。与 这项技术，奥马哈MEG集团将继续在发现的几个主要主题领域的最前沿， 在提案中进行了描述，NIH和转化神经科学界对此有明确的兴趣。