[FieldTrip] A postdoc position in developing methods for MEG with atomic magnetometers

[Robert Oostenveld]

Dear Avniel (CC to the FieldTrip list)

Thanks for announcing this interesting post doc position. Last week at the Biomag conference I attended the atomic/optical magnetic field sensor symposium and was very impressed with the progress that was presented.  

With respect to some of the tasks you outline (see below), I think that there is quite some overlap with the methods used in squid based MEG technology.  E.g., the volume conduction modelling and forward solutions relate the equivalent current dipole strength in the model head to magnetic field strength outside the head. This is independent of the sensor technology, although the precise sensor geometry is of course different (as it also is between the various MEG systems). See for example http://fieldtrip.fcdonders.nl/faq/how_are_electrodes_magnetometers_or_gradiometers_described. The noise characteristics of the atomic magnetometers themselves will at the moment also be quite different for that of a squid-based system, but once the S/N gets good enough, a large fraction of the noise will be environmental and biological, again resulting in similar methods being applicable to deal with those parts of the noise (especially when compared to the magnetometer channels in some of the presently used MEG systems).

I hope that it will be possible to develop methods for atomical magnetometer based MEG in close collaboration with the methods that are used and developed for conventional MEG. Actually it would be cool to implement support for the data formats that are being used by you and in Princeton in the FieldTrip toolbox. I believe that this would facilitate working together, not specifically with the Donders Institute in Nijmegen, but rather with the MEG field as a whole. It would also allow your data to be processed in the other large open source toolboxes (such as SPM and Nutmeg), as these all share the same data access functions and sensor representation. At the moment FieldTrip supports MEG data from about 15  different MEG systems (3x BTi, 2x Neuromag, 4x CTF, 4x Yokogawa, 2x ITAB, ranging from adult MEG to fetal MCG and even rodent MEG) and provides data processing and source reconstruction for all of them. Adding support for your data format and sensor arrangements is something that we could provide assistance with.

I hope you will be able to attract a good candidate for the position and that the new atomic sensor technology will soon become available to the whole MEG community.

best regards
Robert


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Robert Oostenveld, PhD
Senior Researcher & MEG Physicist
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour
Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging
Radboud University Nijmegen
tel.: +31 (0)24 3619695
e-mail: r.oostenveld at donders.ru.nl
web: http://www.ru.nl/neuroimaging
skype: r.oostenveld
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On 3 Sep 2012, at 7:07, Ghuman, Avniel wrote:

> Post-doc in MEG with Atomic Magnetometers
> 
> The Ghuman Lab at the University of Pittsburgh, in collaboration with the Romalis Group at Princeton University and Twinleaf LLC, is recruiting a Post doc to develop methods for atomic magnetometer based MEG and multimodal integration (simultaneous MEG-EEG and MEG-fNIRS).  The position is available immediately.
> Responsibilities:
> •        Develop novel solutions for MEG using atomic magnetometers concerning source localization, noise cancellation and head modeling
> •        Acquire and analyze MEG, MEG-EEG, and MEG-fNIRS data
> •        Develop novel methods for integrating multimodal data
> •        Design and implement novel data analysis tools
> •        Assist with preparation of progress reports
> •        Prepare manuscripts and presentations
> •        Work with Investigators to identify future problems and research opportunities
> 
> Minimum Qualifications:
> •        Ph.D. in Engineering, Physics, Neuroscience, Computer Science, Math, or related field.
> •        Demonstrated expertise in solving MEG technological issues as shown through publication record, awards, successful patents and/or received applications.
> •        Data analysis expertise includes independent components analysis, Bayesian algorithms, statistical parametric mapping, and MRI image processing.
> •        Proficiency in creating software analysis tools and programs for investigators
> •        MATLAB and Python programming knowledge preferred.
> 
> Conditions of Employment:
> •        Position available immediately
> •        Salary:  according to NIH postdoc salary scale
> •        The University of Pittsburgh has excellent benefits, including health benefits and retirement plans with employer contributions.
> •        The University of Pittsburgh values diversity and is committed to equal opportunity in employment.
> 
> How to Apply:
> •        E-mail Avniel Ghuman, Ph.D. (ghumana at upmc.edu) or Mike Romalis, Ph.D. (romalis at princeton.edu)
> 
> _______________________________________________
> fieldtrip mailing list
> fieldtrip at donders.ru.nl
> http://mailman.science.ru.nl/mailman/listinfo/fieldtrip

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