One of the newer advances in brain imaging is magnetoencephalography (MEG). I have to say, this technology is really cool. Finally, there is a tool that can give an incredibly precise picture of a seizure focus, which is a fancy way of saying it shows where a seizure is happening. MEG is different from other imaging techniques because it measures magnetic signals in the brain and then creates a 3-dimensional picture so surgeons can pinpoint exactly what area to remove if surgery is in the cards. Older techniques rely on electric signals and are helpful, but MEG might be the most promising diagnostic technology to come around for epilepsy in a long time.
What I most love about MEG, though, is that the magnetic signals it measures come from the neurons (brain cells) themselves. Awesome!
Now, saying MEG measures magnetic signals and that this is revolutionary probably sounds quite confusing; that’s because most of us have heard about magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which also has “magnet” in the term. However, there is a key difference: MRI uses a giant magnet to send magnetic waves through the body, and MEG measures magnetic signals coming from the neurons themselves. In other words, in MRI the magnet is an external thing – part of the device – whereas in MEG, the magnetic signals come from our own brain cells. In addition, while MRI gives quite a spiffy picture of the soft tissues, the images it produces are primarily 2-dimensional. Clinical use of MEG technology is not widespread yet, but my beloved hubby does use it where he works and we're both excited about its capabilities.
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