Clinical applications of magnetoencephalography.
Magnetoencephalography (MEG), in which magnetic fields generated by brain activity are recorded outside of the head, is now in routine clinical practice throughout the world. MEG has become a recognized and vital part of the presurgical evaluation of patients with epilepsy and patients with brain tumors. We review investigations that show an improvement in the postsurgical outcomes of patients with epilepsy by localizing epileptic discharges. We also describe the most common clinical MEG applications that affect the management of patients, and discuss some applications that are close to having a clinical impact on patients.
Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 Thirteenth Street, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA. smstuff@mit.edu
Steven M
SM
Stufflebeam
Naoaki
N
Tanaka
Seppo P
SP
Ahlfors
D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D015225:Magnetoencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009991:Oscillometry; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology