Spin exchange optically pumped nuclear spin self compensation system for moving magnetoencephalography measurement

Recording moving magnetoencephalograms (MEGs), in which a person's head can move freely as the brain's magnetic field is recorded, has been a key subject in recent years. Here, we describe a method based on an optically pumped atomic co-magnetometer (OPACM) for recording moving MEGs. In the OPACM, hyper-polarized nuclear spins produce a magnetic field that blocks the background fluctuation low-frequency magnetic field noise while the rapidly changing MEG signal is recorded. In this study, the magnetic field compensation was studied theoretically, and we found that the compensation is closely related to several parameters such as the electron spin magnetic field, nuclear spin magnetic field, and holding magnetic field. Furthermore, the magnetic field compensation was optimized based on a theoretical model. We also experimentally studied the magnetic field compensation and measured the responses of the OPACM to different magnetic field frequencies. We show that the OPACM clearly suppresses low-frequency (under 1 Hz) magnetic fields. However, the OPACM responses to magnetic field frequencies around the band of the MEG. A magnetic field sensitivity of 3 fT/Hz1/2 was achieved. Finally, we performed a simulation of the OPACM during utilization for moving MEG recording. For comparison, the traditional compensation system for moving MEG recording is based on a coil that is around 2 m in dimension, while our compensation system is only 2 mm in dimension

Automated summary

In this study, we developed a method using an optically pumped atomic co-magnetometer (OPACM) for recording moving magnetoencephalograms (MEGs). The magnetic field compensation was studied theoretically and experimentally, showing that the OPACM effectively suppresses low-frequency magnetic fields but has weaker responses to magnetic field frequencies around the MEG band.