IMR Press / JIN / Volume 23 / Issue 5 / DOI: 10.31083/j.jin2305093
Open Access Original Research
Measuring Human Auditory Evoked Fields with a Flexible Multi-Channel OPM-Based MEG System
Show Less
1 Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 215163 Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
2 School of Biomedical Engineering (Suzhou), Division of Life Science and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, 230026 Hefei, Anhui, China
3 Ji Hua Laboratory, 528000 Foshan, Guangdong, China
4 Jinan Guoke Medical Technology Development Co., Ltd., 528000 Jinan, Shandong, China
5 School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Changchun University of Science and Technology, 130022 Changchun, Jilin, China
6 Department of Radiology, Suzhou Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University, 215163 Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
7 Department of Neurology, First People’s Hospital of Foshan, 528000 Foshan, Guangdong, China
*Correspondence: changy@sibet.ac.cn (Yan Chang); zeno1839@126.com (Jian-bing Zhu); xiaodong.yang@sibet.ac.cn (Xiao-dong Yang)
J. Integr. Neurosci. 2024, 23(5), 93; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.jin2305093
Submitted: 13 September 2023 | Revised: 14 December 2023 | Accepted: 19 December 2023 | Published: 30 April 2024
Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a non-invasive imaging technique for directly measuring the external magnetic field generated from synchronously activated pyramidal neurons in the brain. The optically pumped magnetometer (OPM) is known for its less expensive, non-cryogenic, movable and user-friendly custom-design provides the potential for a change in functional neuroimaging based on MEG. Methods: An array of OPMs covering the opposite sides of a subject’s head is placed inside a magnetically shielded room (MSR) and responses evoked from the auditory cortices are measured. Results: High signal-to-noise ratio auditory evoked response fields (AEFs) were detected by a wearable OPM-MEG system in a MSR, for which a flexible helmet was specially designed to minimize the sensor-to-head distance, along with a set of bi-planar coils developed for background field and gradient nulling. Neuronal current sources activated in AEF experiments were localized and the auditory cortices showed the highest activities. Performance of the hybrid optically pumped magnetometer-magnetoencephalography/electroencephalography (OPM-MEG/EEG) system was also assessed. Conclusions: The multi-channel OPM-MEG system performs well in a custom built MSR equipped with bi-planar coils and detects human AEFs with a flexible helmet. Moreover, the similarities and differences of auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) and AEFs are discussed, while the operation of OPM-MEG sensors in conjunction with EEG electrodes provides an encouraging combination for the exploration of hybrid OPM-MEG/EEG systems.

Keywords
magnetoencephalography
optically-pumped magnetometer
auditory evoked fields
electroencephalography
M100
Funding
X190131TD190/Ji Hua Laboratory
SJC2021024/Suzhou pilot project of basic research
ZR2022QF098/Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province
Figures
Fig. 1.
Share
Back to top