Measuring the noise floor of Hybrid Quantum Interference Devices

York Instruments' main product is MEGSCAN: a next-generation magnetoencephalography (MEG) brain scanner which offers non-invasive functional brain imaging with wide clinical utility including applications relating to epilepsy, concussions, and oncology. At the heart of the MEGSCAN system is new type of magnetic sensor, called the Hybrid Quantum Interference Device (HyQUID). HyQUIDs are superconducting magnetometers that are expected to have lower noise and higher sensitivity than the magnetometers traditionally used in MEG systems. Here, York Instruments will work closely with the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) to build a novel measurement platform with which the performance (HyQUID noise floor) will be verified. This will lead to further understanding and iterative optimisation of the sensor to provide best performance and ultimately improved diagnostic capability of the York Instruments MEGSCAN system.