Clinical utility of magnetoencephalography and its recent development

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is an established functional brain imaging modality that was initially developed about 50 years ago and is currently used as a clinical tool for non-invasive assessment of human brain function. The temporal resolution of MEG and electroencephalography (EEG) are identical, although MEG offers many advantages over scalp EEG recordings in terms of localizing epileptic foci and eloquent cortex. Namely, MEG measurements are minimally distorted by cephalic tissue compared to EEG measurements. In this mini-review, we briefly examine the clinical utility of MEG in epilepsy and provide a demographic overview of MEG scans at our institution. The primary focus, however, is on recent developments in MEG technology that address the challenges faced by MEG systems.