Clinical MEG Service | What is MEG?

MEG (magnetoencephalography) is a noninvasive neuroimaging technique designed to measure brain activity via magnetic fields. MEG measures the change in these magnetic fields to provide an indirect measure of the strength and location of brain activity.

MEG helps us to learn more about brain functions during early infancy in healthy children. Information gained from MEG recordings can allow us to help patients with neurological disorders, such as:

• epilepsy
• cerebral palsy
• autism spectrum disorders
• Down syndrome

Furthermore, MEG is widely used for measuring cognitive functions, such as memory and language.

MEG advantages

MEG testing offers many advantages with no reports of injuries or harm to patients who have had MEG.

• MEG is silent and non-invasive.
• MEG, unlike other ways of looking at the brain (e.g. MRI, CT scan, or PET), does not expose the body to magnetic fields or ionizing radiation.
• The magnetic signals made by brain activity are very small compared to those from the earth and electrical machines.
• The MEG scanner is placed in a room that protects from environmental noise called a magnetically shielded room (MSR).