Cerca Magnetics

Cerca Magnetics Limited is a United Kingdom-based company that develops and sells a wearable functional brain imaging system based on optically-pumped magnetometers (OPMs). The company is headquartered in Nottingham, where it emerged from research conducted at the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre at the University of Nottingham, in collaboration with industrial partners Magnetic Shields Limited and QuSpin. Its flagship product, the Cerca OPM-MEG System, is described by the company as the world's first commercial, fully-integrated brain imaging device based on OPMs. The system is offered as a research tool and does not carry medical or regulatory approvals in any jurisdiction. The core technology, magnetoencephalography (MEG), measures the magnetic fields generated by electrical currents in assemblies of neurons, allowing moment-to-moment images of brain activity. Conventional MEG scanners are large, heavy, one-size-fits-all devices that require participants to remain still for long periods. Cerca's system instead uses a wearable helmet containing an array of OPM sensors that adapts to any head size and allows participants to move freely during a scan. The company claims higher sensitivity, better spatial precision, and lower cost than traditional MEG scanners. Cerca Magnetics offers a fully integrated solution comprising three elements: extremely sensitive magnetic field detectors (OPMs), background magnetic field control through multiple shielding technologies, and system integration into a wearable helmet optimised to characterise brain-generated magnetic fields. The company also supplies magnetically-shielded rooms using active and passive shielding. Its technology is aimed at researchers studying brain function and dysfunction in neurological and psychiatric conditions, and the company highlights the scale of mental health disorders as motivation for its work. The company's origins trace to a series of academic milestones. In 2016, a theoretical study outlined the advantages of OPM-MEG over conventional systems. In 2017, the first compact magnetically shielded room optimised for wearable OPM-MEG was developed, and the first single-channel recording demonstrated commercially-available OPM sensors for MEG. In 2018, the first wearable OPM array enabled completely free movement while capturing high-fidelity images of human brain activity, published in Nature. Further work in 2018 and 2019 improved the controlled magnetic field environment with balanced, bi-planar magnetic field and field gradient coils. Cerca Magnetics operates as a private company. Its identity is closely tied to the University of Nottingham's imaging research ecosystem and to its industrial partners, and it positions itself at the intersection of neuroscience research instrumentation and advanced magnetic sensing. The company markets its system internationally to research institutions, emphasising adaptability for scanning babies, children, and adults.

Cerca Magnetics Limited is a United Kingdom company based in Nottingham that commercialises wearable brain imaging technology developed within the University of Nottingham's Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, working with industrial partners Magnetic Shields Limited and QuSpin. The company describes its mission as bringing to market the world's first commercial, fully-integrated brain imaging device based on optically-pumped magnetometers (OPMs). The scientific foundations of the technology were laid in a series of studies. In 2016, a theoretical and simulation study by E. Boto et al. outlined the advantages of OPM-MEG over conventional cryogenic MEG systems. In 2017, the first compact magnetically shielded room optimised for wearable OPM-MEG devices was developed, with independently validated shielding performance data from QuSpin Inc. Also in 2017, the first single-channel recording demonstrated that commercially-available OPM sensors could measure MEG and deliver the expected advantages, published by E. Boto et al. in NeuroImage. In 2018, the first wearable OPM array was demonstrated, enabling completely free movement while capturing high-fidelity images of human electrical brain activity. This work, by E. Boto, N. Holmes, J. Leggett, G. Roberts et al., was published in Nature under the title 'Moving magnetoencephalography towards real-world applications with a wearable system'. Further improvements to the controlled magnetic field environment followed in 2018 and 2019, including balanced, bi-planar magnetic field and field gradient coils for field compensation in wearable MEG, published by N. Holmes et al. in Scientific Reports. Building on this research, Cerca Magnetics was established to commercialise the technology. The company offers a fully integrated OPM-MEG solution consisting of magnetic field detectors (OPMs), background magnetic field control through multiple shielding technologies, and system integration into a wearable helmet optimised to characterise brain-generated magnetic fields. It also supplies magnetically-shielded rooms using state-of-the-art active and passive shielding. The Cerca OPM-MEG System is marketed as a research system and the company states that it does not have any medical or regulatory approvals in any jurisdiction. The system is designed to scan babies, children, and adults, adapting to any head size and allowing participants to move freely during a scan. Cerca positions its technology as significantly outperforming the current state of the art, offering higher sensitivity and better spatial precision at a lower cost than traditional MEG scanners. The company's work is motivated by the prevalence of mental health disorders and the need for powerful tools to measure brain function and dysfunction in neurological or psychiatric conditions.

• 2018

  First wearable OPM array enabling completely free movement while capturing high-fidelity images of human brain activity (E. Boto, N. Holmes, J. Leggett, G. Roberts et al., Nature).

• 2018

  Improved equipment for controlled magnetic field environment (N. Holmes et al., Scientific Reports, 2019).

• 2017

  First compact magnetically shielded room for wearable OPM-MEG devices developed, with independently validated shielding performance data from QuSpin Inc.

• 2017

  First demonstration of commercially-available OPM sensors for measuring MEG (E. Boto et al., NeuroImage).

• 2016

  First theoretical/simulation study outlining the advantages of OPM-MEG over conventional systems (E. Boto et al., PLoS One).

Developer of the world's first commercial, fully-integrated wearable OPM-MEG brain imaging system for research, offering higher sensitivity, better spatial precision, and lower cost than conventional MEG scanners.

• Cerca OPM-MEG System

  A wearable, fully-integrated functional brain imaging research system based on optically-pumped magnetometers, offered as a research system without medical or regulatory approvals.

• Magnetically-Shielded Rooms

  State-of-the-art active and passive shielding rooms optimised for OPM-MEG.

• Adaptable Helmets

  Wearable helmets that adapt to any head size, enabling scanning of babies, children, and adults.

1. 1Cerca OPM-MEG Homecercamagnetics.com
2. 2Cerca OPM-MEG Storycercamagnetics.com
3. 3Cerca Magnetics Limited - Wikidatawikidata.org