On-scalp Yttrium-Iron Garnet sensor arrays for brain source localization: Cramér-Rao bound analysis

Abstract

A new type of highly sensitive Magnetometers based on Yttrium-Iron Garnet films (YIGM) is being designed and applied to brain signals recording. We modelled sensor arrays based on YIGM and well-established OPM (QuSpin Inc.) and SQUID (Elekta Neuromag) arrays used for magnetoencephalography (MEG). In this simulation study we investigate the inverse problem accuracy bound depending on the sensor arrays configuration, types of magnetometers and instrumental noise level. We estimate the variance of the probability of dipole source localization using the Cramér-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB); the CRLB is calculated with use of the numerical approximation of the forward model and its partial derivative parametrization. Our models confirm that the development of multi-channel YIG-MEG systems requires noise reduction, rather than an increase in number of sensors, to outperform OPM and SQUID arrays. The modelling showed the advantages of YIG-based gradiometry compared to conventional SQUID-system.