MEG is a non-invasive neuro-imaging technique that helps identify seizure activity or evoked sensory activity, which can be overlaid onto MRI images of the brain to assist with pre-surgical planning for epilepsy and brain tumor patients.

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Magnetoencephalography (MEG), like electroencephalography (EEG), records cerebral brain activity. MEG is typically combined with other brain imaging modalities, particularly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), for precise localization of brain function and structure. When combined with structural imaging, MEG is referred to as Magnetic Source Imaging (MSI). The main clinical applications of MSI are to localize electromagnetic disturbances of brain activity related to epilepsy and normal brain function.

MSI is used to help localize epilepsy in patients whose seizures cannot be controlled by anti-seizure medicines. It is also used to localize the precise regions of the brain responsible for sensation, movement, vision and hearing, relative to the surgical target. In this use, the images and data generated help guide the neurosurgeon and assure that parts of the brain critical to these functions are not injured. This application of MSI is useful in both epilepsy and brain tumor surgery.

The UAB Epilepsy Center is among the top comprehensive epilepsy centers in the U.S., is one of only a handful of centers in the U.S. using magnetic source imaging (MSI).