Scientists develop brain scanners like helmets

British scientists have developed a brain imaging device that is lighter and more sensitive and can be worn as a helmet, allowing patients to move naturally during the device. work.

Results from the tests of this scanner show that patients can nod and even drink tea or play table tennis while their brain activity has been recorded by the device every millisecond through the shooting system. magnetize MEG.

Equipment development researchers and published results in Nature report that they hope the new scanner will improve research and treatment for patients who cannot use traditional fixed MEG scanners. like children with epilepsy, newborns or patients with disorders like Parkinson's.

Gareth Barnes, a professor at Wellcome's Center for Neurology at University College London, said: "This new device has the potential to revolutionize the field of brain imaging, and solve scientific questions and Clinically related to human brain images ".

"MEG scanners are currently very heavy and weigh about half a ton, partly because the sensors they use to measure the magnetic field of the brain need to be kept cool at -269 degrees Celsius," Barnes' group explain.

This machine also has many difficulties when patients cannot keep their body in place like very small children or patients with movement disorders for example. So the image given cannot be accurate.

In the new hat scanner, the researchers overcome these problems by using light, quantum sensors that operate at room temperature and can be placed directly on the scalp, increasing the amount of signal. The best way to take pictures.