Brain Scanning Devices
Brain Scanning Devices are being used extensively in the niche of Neurosciences for identifying, diagnosing, treating and managing neurological problems. The most recent introductions in this niche include the use of Brain Scanning Devices for controlling brain seizures. Today, new kinds of brain scanning equipment like the Magnetoencephalography (MEG) are becoming increasingly popular since they help to measure the brain activity in real time, helping neurologists diagnose neurological problems in a quicker, more efficient manner.
Brain Scanning Technology combines many scientific disciplines, including biological imaging, nuclear medicine, radiology and investigative sciences along with the basics of endoscopy, medical imagining, thermography and microscopy. Modern Brain Scanning Technologies extend beyond the conventional role performed by equipment that were essentially imaging devices and seek to measure and record brain activity in a more systematic, mapped format. For example, MEG is accurate enough to even locate the precise point of origin of an epileptic seizure, i.e. its accuracy levels are much more than of conventional brain scanning methods Electroencephalography (EEG) scanners.
The other emerging trend is to use a combination of Brain Scanning Devices for procuring the clearest, most-decipherable scanned images of the brain. This includes combining MEG and MRI scanning, that helps Neurosurgeons to map brain activity in real time apart from helping them identify the damaged brain tissues. This kind of scanning is a critical part of planning a Neurosurgery where healthy and inactive brain tissues need to be demarcated precisely. It is no secret that the technology used in contemporary Brain Scanning Devices is highly advanced but still the efforts to improve upon existing technologies have not slowed down. In fact, there is a greater emphasis on creating more precise, less invasive and more affordable Brain Scanning Devices.
This is one of the major reasons why many neurological healthcare facilities have adopted MEG. This new technology is able to measure even the faintest of magnetic fields emanating from within the skull, i.e. magnetism created due to electrical pulses being used as a part of brain activity. MEG uses state-of-the-art magnetic field sensing coils that are covered in liquid helium and are suspended around the patient’s head. The brain has a rather low strength magnetic field caused by electrical pulses passed through the neurons. This induces a current among the coils that in turn is converted into a magnetic field via an instrument called a SQUID—Superconducting Quantum Interference Device. The presence of liquid helium around the coils ensures that the superconducting and extremely-cold temperatures are maintained which is necessary for the detection of such low-strength magnetic fields.
The use of such progressive Brain Scanning Device technologies isn't cheap since a single MEG device can cost more than a few million dollars. Its maintenance too is demanding with the machine weighing about 8 tons. However, when compared with most of the contemporary brain-scanning technologies, the degree of resolution provided by MEG wherein it can provide details about nerve cell activity to the smallest of milliseconds is incomparable. The example of MEG best illustrates the advances made in the niche of Brain Scanning Devices and the biggest challenge that they put forth, i.e. making such technologies more portable and cheaper.
