Sensors Using Quantum Optics Enable More Accurate Measurement of Brain Activity

(MedicalExpress) Aalto University researchers are designing a brain-imaging device that uses a new type of sensor placed on the surface of a person’s head. The new sensors employ quantum optics, allowing them to reduce the distance between the brain surface and the sensors to half of what current magnetoencephalography (MEG) scanners use.
Professor Lauri Parkkonen explains the benefits of their new sensors, “They are small, can function in room temperature, be placed directly on the head of the study subject, and the measurement accuracy is approaching that of measurements done inside the skull in patients.”
The study is primarily funded by the European Research Council (ERC), and Parkkonen’s team is also involved in the European Union’s billion-euro Quantum Flagship project macQsimal, where these sensors are developed further.