Mag4Health, a future startup and CEA-Leti spinoff, won an award at the i-Lab 2020 competition. The project aims to develop a helmet-sized magnetoencephalography (MEG) system that represents a major advance with regard to today's bulky machines.
- The core technology, protected by ten patents, does not require cryogenic cooling. Instead, it boasts a simple magnetic shielding system that weighs just a few hundred kilograms (instead of ten tons). The key to the breakthrough? Optically pumped magnetometers with an enhanced size-to-sensitivity ratio.
- MEG is widely accepted as superior in accuracy and resolution to EEG* neuro-imaging. Mag4Health has set the ambitious target of cutting the cost of the system tenfold so that a greater number of systems (just 150 worldwide currently) can be made available.
Clinical trials started in September. The startup will be officially founded in early 2021.
*Electroencephalogram