The brain, with its approximately 86 billion neurons transmitting 1000 impulses per second, is the most complex natural system in the known universe. Despite this, there is a lot to learn about this three-pound organ. Our awareness of conditions like autism and schizophrenia, as well as the interaction of anatomy, feelings, and behavior, is still developing. Treatments for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease have severe side effects or are only preventative rather than curative. Modern brain imaging technologies are slow, exposing structures such as tumors or measuring brain activity indirectly through blood flow. Scientists need Quantum Sensing the Brain to see real-time communications such as between neural networks on a millisecond basis to better understand cognition. 

Researchers at the UK Quantum Technology Center are using quantum sensor engineering for Quantum Sensing the Brain.  Researchers have developed the first wearable MEG device using Optically Pumped Magnetometers (OPMs), which consists of 13 OPMs mounted in a 3D-printed head-cast that allows for free movement during scanning. It can be positioned directly on the scalp, closer to the brain, without needing cryogenic conditions, resulting in a five-fold improvement in signal detection accuracy. Since there is no need for liquid helium, a wearable device restricts the subject’s mobility less and eliminates the high installation and operating costs of a traditional MEG system.

Dementia is a promising application for these OPMs because it includes deep-seated brain processes and networks that the existing MRG system struggles to detect. The hippocampus, for example, is essential for learning, memory, and spatial awareness, but it’s difficult to picture with current technology because it’s deep in the temporal lobe. In ways that other imaging instruments cannot, real-time imaging on a millisecond basis often teaches us about spatial and temporal activity in various brain regions.

Before OPMs could be used in operation, however, major obstacles had to be addressed, one of which was regulating background magnetic fields. The brain’s field is much smaller than the time-varying fields that surround us, such as those created by laboratory equipment, machines, moving vehicles, and even our own bodies. As a result of these outlets, measuring magnetic fields from the brain is like hearing a pin drop at a rock concert.

Finally, one of the big scientific challenges of the twenty-first century is recognizing and controlling human brain health, and the measures needed to address that challenge are far from simple. However, physics has always been able to produce technology that transforms lives, from X-rays to MRI, ultrasound to nuclear medicine. Perhaps this early success story of the UK’s quantum technology program will become a pillar of the next generation of healthcare technology when we look to the future.