Posts Tagged ‘Brain Mapping’
MEG White Paper 2010 Functional Brain Mapping with Magnetoencephalography James R. Petite Jr. Ph.D.
Elekta and Orasi Medical have released a white paper detailing the opportunity for utilizing magnetoencephalography (MEG) technology to accelerate the development of drugs to treat neurological disorders. The paper describes MEG technology, its current clinical and research use, illustrates the comparison of MEG to EEG and importantly demonstrates how MEG can improve and accelerate the development of Central Nervous System (CNS) drugs.
The release of the paper comes at a critical time. With the average duration to bring a CNS drug to market exceeding 12 years—and only seven percent of neurological drugs making it to market—pharmaceutical companies are looking for technologies to assess the effect of drugs earlier and more accurately in the development process. “There is a critical need for better tools to ascertain brain function in drug development, as well as novel biomarkers that identify neurological drug and disease signatures,” said Michael Gold, Vice President, GlaxoSmithKline.
“We have heard firsthand from pharmaceutical thought leaders that there is no one modality that solves the current needs in CNS clinical drug development,” said Stephen Otto, Chairman of Elekta’s Neuromag Business. “The technical advantages and patient-friendly qualities of MEG make it a natural fit for the measurement of CNS drugs.”
To read more about how this novel application of MEG can accelerate drug development, reduce costs and improve CNS drug innovation by measuring neurological drug effects and real-time brain function throughout key phases of the drug development process, click here: www.orasimedical.com/2010megwhitepaper.
Click this link To learn more about the Elekta Neuromeg
A new medical imaging lab in the Maritimes could detect and treat neurological diseases, disorders and injuries earlier by recording the brain in action.
The $5.3-million Laboratory for Clinical Magnetoencephalography (MEG) recently opened at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, in partnership with NRC and Helsinki-based Elekta Neuromag®, the manufacturer of the real-time MEG brain-mapping instrument.
Using advanced imaging technology, the MEG lab will measure brain activity – in both adults and children – as it is happening as opposed to just receiving a static image of the brain.
With MEG, the brain is seen in action rather than as a still image. The blue dot shows the location of activity in the auditory cortex of a person listening to basic auditory tones. Credit: www.cnrc-nrc.gc.ca
Read the entire article here : Observing the brain in space and time
Neuromag
The University Hospital at Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf, Germany, has installed Elekta Neuromag, a device for noninvasive measurement of brain activity using Magnetoencephalography (MEG) technology.
Completely non-invasive and painless, MEG is a powerful tool used for studying normal brain function, as well as brain disorders, such as epilepsy and autism.
The University has been utilizing MEG technology for more than 12 years; however, recently upgraded their Elekta system, allowing researchers to record human brain activity better and more accurately than before.
“After successfully using the old 122-channel Neuromag MEG system for more than 12 years, I’m extremely excited about the installation of the technologically-advanced 306-channel system,”
says Professor Alfons Schnitzler, M.D., Ph.D., head, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology and Director, Center for Movement Disorders and Neuromodulation, Heinrich-Heine-University.
Researchers from various departments, such as neurology, clinical neuroscience, neurosurgery, psychiatry, and experimental psychology will employ MEG to track brain activity related to sensory, motor, cognitive and emotional functions, at high temporal and spatial resolution, in healthy human subjects, as well as patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders.
“One particular focus,” said Dr. Schnitzler, “will be on the identification and modulation of oscillatory networks involved in normal brain function and their alterations in movement disorders and other neuropsychiatric diseases.”
Dr. Schnitzler also notes that the Center for Movement Disorders and Neuromodulation at HHU runs a comprehensive program on Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). DBS delivers a constant, low electrical stimulation to the brain through implanted electrodes and is used to help partially restore normal movements in Parkinson’s Disease, tremor syndromes, dystonia and other movement disorders.
“The new MEG system will allow us to record brain activity from patients with implanted DBS devices and to study mechanisms of DBS and other neuromodulatory interventions,” continues Schnitzler. “In addition to MEG, state-of-the-art MRI, PET, high-density EEG, and stereotactic TMS facilities, as well as intracranial recordings are available to complement the picture obtained from MEG measurements. This combination will provide a unique, non-invasive window through the human skull, offering exciting perspectives for clinical and cognitive neuroscientists and clinicians.”
A MEG (magnetoencephalography) examination is totally non-invasive and painless. MEG is used for mapping of brain signals to identify and localize various activities.
Elekta Neuromag
The information is used for clinical applications such as pre-surgical mapping, epilepsy investigations and different research areas. The advantage of MEG is that you see the brain in action, rather than viewed as a still image, this gives unique information that no other image or scanning method can provide.
Elekta Neuromag® is a preferred system among many clinicians and researchers around the world, because of its high and reliable performance.
MEG Software
Examination Process
* The actual scanning process with MEG can take as little as a few minutes or up to several hours depending on the procedure. Three to five small coils are attached on the patient’s head. These coils form a coordinate system that helps synthesize the combined MEG and MRI data.
* Location of the coils with respect to anatomical landmarks on the head are determined with a 3-dimensional digitizer to allow alignment of the MEG coordinates with the anatomy provided by separate MRI images. During the measurement the marker coils are employed to continuously follow the head position.
* The brain activity, spontaneous or evoked in response to various types of stimuli, is recorded with good on-line control on the quality of the recorded data.
* To complete the examination, the MEG data is analysed by the software and the resulting knowledge of the spatial distribution of brain activity is integrated with the MRI image. For More info visit the Elekta Neuromag Page.
Elekta Neuromag on MSNBC – View Neuromag Video
Elekta Neuromag® is an advanced magnetoencephalography (MEG) device providing real-time mapping of brain activity by non-invasively measuring the magnetic fields produced by the brain.
An Elekta Neuromag® examination answers questions like:
* What activity is the brain producing and where does it originate from?
* Which parts of the brain undertake various tasks?
* How does the brain function, both normally and in cases of illness?
Elekta Neuromag® is technically one of the most sophisticated MEG/EEG devices available on the market today.
The unique design of the sensors combined with advanced software makes it possible to gain data with unsurpassed detail even from the deepest realms of the brain.
The system also has the highest available immunity to magnetic interference, either patient related or external.
Elekta Neuromag® also has the lowest operational costs, with the longest liquid helium refill interval.
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