OPM MEG in Pre-surgical Mapping for Patients With Epilepsy

NCT07378397 | Enrolling By Invitation

• 1 other identifier: AU-014-2024-CW
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 20
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Magnetoencephalography, or "MEG", is a brain-scanning method which has been available for many years. It is used in the UK and worldwide to help patients with epilepsy, who need surgery to resolve their seizures. The MEG scan can help inform the surgeon about where to operate, by mapping the abnormal brain activity caused by epilepsy. During a traditional MEG recording, patients sit very still with their head in a rigid helmet which houses many tiny sensors. This can be uncomfortable, and there are additional problems if the patient is a child, because the helmet is often too big. It is not possible to record useful data from the very youngest children with a traditional MEG scanner. But there is a new generation of MEG systems, called OPM-MEG, which employ lightweight sensors housed in a kind of hat. The hat can be appropriately sized for children, and the patient can move comfortably. The new systems are also more cost-effective to run. It is important to know whether the accepted clinical protocols for using MEG in planning epilepsy surgery can be directly transferred to OPM-MEG. It is also important to understand how the patient experience compares across systems. In this project, 20 volunteer patients will be recruited from among those children already having routine pre-surgical MEG recordings Aston University. They will be invited to participate in an OPM-MEG recording in the same facility at Aston University, so that data from the new OPM-MEG device can be compared with the data from the old MEG scanner. Data analysis pipelines will be streamlined, and the accuracy of the results compared to determine whether the improved sensor arrangement for children in the OPM-MEG system leads to better localisation of epileptiform activity.

Conditions

Epilepsy in Youth; Epilepsy (Treatment Refractory); Epilepsy in Children

Keywords

OPM-MEG; magnetoencephalography

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Comparative localisations of epileptiform activity

  Interictal epileptiform activity recorded in the OPM-MEG data will be localised with standard techniques, and resulting brain activity maps compared with those obtained in cryogenic MEG data that is shared into the study.

  Within 3 months of referral

Study Arms (1)

Children with epilepsy

Children with refractory epilepsy who are candidates for neurosurgery and have been referred for a clinical MEG scan.

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 6 Years - 15 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The study population is all children who are in the care of Birmingham Children's Hospital Epilepsy Surgery Service, who have been referred to Aston University for a clinical MEG scan as candidates for neurosurgery.

You may qualify if:

• Patients who are capable of giving informed assent, and have a person with parental responsibility capable of giving informed consent on their behalf.
• Male or female.
• Patients between the age of 6-15 years
• Patients and caregivers with English language skills that enable informed assent/consent.

You may not qualify if:

• Patients, or parent or caregiver, who do not assent or consent to participate in the research either on that day or later.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Aston University: lead
• Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Aston University

Birmingham, United Kingdom, B4 7ET, United Kingdom

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Epilepsy

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases

Study Officials

• Caroline WITTON, PhD

  Aston University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: CASE ONLY
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Target Duration: 3 Months
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 19, 2026
• First Posted: January 30, 2026
• Study Start: June 17, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 30, 2027
• Last Updated: January 30, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

GB (1)