The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project has to do with the emerging field of Brain-Machine Interfaces (BMI). One of the main techniques for such interfaces is magnetoencephalography (MEG), where brain waves are read by using highly-sensitive magnetometers. A substantial technological hurdle exists in bringing such techniques to the mass market, however, in that existing equipment for performing MEG studies is based on SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Device) magnetometers, which requires temperatures below 1K and highly specialized, shielded facility. These requirements mean that existing MEG facilities are very expensive both to acquire and operate and there exists only a handful of such facilities around the world. This I-Corps project aims to bring this technology to mass market using a recent breakthrough that shows potential for MEG at room temperature, in an unshielded environment and in 1000X smaller form factor. This will enable wider adoption and use of the technology in clinical and research settings.
This I-Corps project further develops a magnetic field sensor with sensitivity comparable to that of SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Device) magnetometers while maintaining the ability to operate unshielded in Earth's ambient magnetic field and at room temperature. This sensor leverages the newly discovered phenomenon of Acoustically Driven Ferromagnetic Resonance (ADFMR) in order to operate. By using strain waves instead of microwaves to drive ferromagnetic resonance, this technique increases the coupling between the excitation wave and the magnetic element by several orders of magnitude.
