Patients

Learn about MEG technology, how it can benefit an epilepsy care plan and where to find a MEGIN site.

What is Magnetoencephalograpy (MEG)?

MEG is an exciting technology that detects and records both normal and abnormal brain activity.

It detects the very small magnetic fields that are created when brain cells are active. This can help doctors treat people with epilepsy.

It is quiet, non-invasive, and does not need any injections or radiation. MEG can help doctors decide if a patient would benefit from epilepsy surgery, which may lead to seizure freedom.

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MEG offers a comfortable patient experience

The MEG scan is safe, calm, and quiet. It is a non-invasive, outpatient visit, lasting only a short time and is safe for both children and adults.

There are no applied magnetic fields, radiation, or injections of any kind. MEG can detect epilepsy activity even when a patient is not having a seizure.

MEG is a very accurate technology and
aids in diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy

MEG directly measures brain activity on a millisecond-by-millisecond basis. It is not affected by the tissues of the head, so brain function can be localized to within a centimeter or even millimeters of the activity.

MEG helps doctors locate normal brain activity, including where the brain processes language, or sensory information, to help plan treatments. MEG also helps doctors identify abnormal brain activity, including epilepsy activity between seizures.

MEG can help doctors determine if the seizure is coming from only one area of the brain, or if it is more widespread. It helps doctors decide if a patient would benefit from epilepsy surgery, which may lead to seizure freedom.

MEG is an important part of pre-surgical evaluation

MEG is used together with structural MRI to show the location of normal and abnormal brain activity. When the MEG scan is read by a doctor, it can be used in treatment planning, specifically, the placement of intercranial EEG (iEEG).

MEG can add new information to the location and understanding of normal and abnormal brain function. It is used alongside other functional brain mapping methods, such as fMRI, PET, SPECT and TMS to assist in presurgical evaluation and treatment planning.

It gives doctors a more complete picture of the location of a patient’s normal and abnormal brain activity, when all the images are used together. This non-invasive technology can enchance the offerings of a comprehensive neuroscience program.

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Find a MEG Site

Doctor and caregiver testimonials

“The MEG scan just was able to provide real time measurements of all the abnormal activity in his brain. And I feel like it was really the missing piece to a bigger puzzle that we hadn’t been able to solve. We now know that our suspicion is that it wasn’t that my son wasn’t having seizure activity while he was being monitored. It was that the EEG was not sensitive enough to detect it.” 

Melinda Blalock, Caregiver

“One of our goals setting up the Neuroscience Institute at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, was we really felt it was important to be able to offer state-of-the-art technology for children with brain tumour vascular malformations or epilepsy that our neurosurgical colleagues are approaching for surgery. At Le Bonheur, we want to take advantage of non-invasive testing and answer questions that we need to know, the families need to know, and in the easiest way possible for our patients. That’s what led us to be the first children’s hospital in North America to have the new MEG in the hospital. We really thought it was critical for the care of children that we take care of.”

James Wheless, MD, Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, Director, Neuroscience Institute and Comprehensive Epilepsy Program Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital

“The TRIUX™ neo will now allow physicians to help identify these patients who may benefit from epilepsy surgery and evaluation of brain activity or from functional mapping prior to brain tumor surgery. Having MEG technology allows us to identify more appropriate treatment options and provide epilepsy surgery when needed.”

Dr. Debopam Samanta, Epileptologist, Arkansas Children’s Hospital

“Second, this hospital had MEG. That was probably the biggest difference between the two facilities, is having that modality to measure and evaluate what’s going on inside of her brain. That proved to be pivotal in changing the course of her journey with epilepsy. And being able to look across all the modalities – PET scan, MRI, EEG. Adding in the MEG, it just gives you a much more clear picture. At least it did in our case, it may not in every case, but it did in our case”

Kenneth Lininger, Caregiver

“MEG is a powerful technology that offers a non-invasive, comprehensive assessment of critical brain functions — including language, motor, auditory and visual processing — with unprecedented ability to determine precisely where and when activity occurs in the brain. Such assessments not only aid in guiding care and treatment decisions but also serve as a roadmap for future research and discoveries.” 

Abbas Babajani-Feremi, PhD,Associate professor of neurology and director of the MEG lab UF Health Norman Fixel Institute

“For Virginia, the MEG was a simple, non-invasive experience. The night before she was sleep deprived to induce seizures in the MEG. Once in the MEG, she was also wearing a high-density EEG cap, and was made comfortable enough to fall asleep. Virginia had a seizure in the MEG, and the data from this was key in her journey.”

Kate Cooper, Caregiver

Amy elaborates, “Our doctor explained to us how much data they could get from the MEG scan. When you’re a parent, the first thing that makes you nervous about a brain surgery is, you want some reassurance that you do not mess with any part of the brain that is control of movement, language, or speech. We were excited that the MEG machine was there. That’s when we chose to pursue more surgeries since we could gather more accurate data.”

Amy Godknecht, Caregiver

Learn more from conversations with caregivers
on our MEGIN Spotlight series

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