Epilepsy affects around 1 in every 200 children. It is one of the most serious long-term health conditions in childhood and is highly debilitating, affecting physical and mental health. Unfortunately, whilst epilepsy can be treated using drugs, these are ineffective in ~30% of cases, and many patients experience difficulties in learning and behaviour. In carefully selected children, surgery can be curative, but this requires careful planning, ensuring abnormal brain tissue is removed without damaging healthy tissue surrounding it. Planning requires advanced brain imaging, but existing technologies often prove insufficient. In children, the most common cause of drug resistant epilepsy occurs is abnormal cortical development, a condition known as focal cortical dysplasia (FCD). FCD can sometimes be seen on MRI scans but it is subtle, and often missed, so other techniques are critically required to supplement MRI. It is possible to measure electrical brain activity, including that resulting in epileptic seizures, directly; either invasively (by putting electrodes into the brain) or non-invasively via electrodes on the scalp with electroencephalography (EEG) or by measuring magnetic fields above the scalp using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Invasive measures precisely pinpoint the source of the seizures, but they require significant surgery and only small regions of brain can be assessed (so we need to have a clear plan for where to put the electrodes). EEG is clinically widely available, covers the whole brain, but it provides a blurred picture of where seizures are generated. MEG offers a more detailed picture of activity across the whole brain and has been shown to significantly increase the chances of surgical success. However, current MEG scanners are extremely expensive and impractical (because patients have to keep still for long periods). They are also not well-suited for use in children. Recently, we have built a new type of MEG scanner. Unlike traditional devices which are large and heavy, our scanner can be worn on the head like a helmet. Because the scanner moves with the head, scans can still be generated when patients make large movements. In addition, our wearable scanner can measure brain activity with much greater detail and is cheaper and easier to maintain. Thus far, this scanner has only been developed for adults, we now plan to design and build a system for children. There are a number of major technical barriers that we have to address: We will start by tackling the fundamental problems associated with scanning young children, including questions like how to get the best possible spatial precision and how to ensure magnetic field sensors (the fundamental building block of a MEG system) can work when tightly packed together on a child's head. We will ensure that data are unaffected by subject movement, and we will tailor our array to specifically focus on brain regions known to be vulnerable to FCD. We will address the problem of how to actually build a wearable MEG helmet for infants; making it robust and practical, but also something with which children (and their parents) will happily engage. We will develop the mathematical methods required to form accurate images of brain activity from the MEG data. Finally, we will deploy our system in both healthy children (to validate it) and in infants with epilepsy. We expect that our system will offer neurologists a window on abnormal brain function with unparalleled accuracy. We will compare our results to high performance MRI (to show concordance with FCD) and with invasive EEG, showing that our system offers similar information to invasive measurements, but without the need for surgery. Ultimately, we aim to show that our device offers new information on abnormal brain function which will be game-changing for youngsters suffering with this highly debilitating disorder.

The Quantum Technology Hub in Sensors and Timing, a collaboration between 7 universities, NPL, BGS and industry, will bring disruptive new capability to real world applications with high economic and societal impact to the UK. The unique properties of QT sensors will enable radical innovations in Geophysics, Health Care, Timing Applications and Navigation. Our established industry partnerships bring a focus to our research work that enable sensors to be customised to the needs of each application. The total long term economic impact could amount to ~10% of GDP. Gravity sensors can see beneath the surface of the ground to identify buried structures that result in enormous cost to construction projects ranging from rail infrastructure, or sink holes, to brownfield site developments. Similarly they can identify oil resources and magma flows. To be of practical value, gravity sensors must be able to make rapid measurements in challenging environments. Operation from airborne platforms, such as drones, will greatly reduce the cost of deployment and bring inaccessible locations within reach. Mapping brain activity in patients with dementia or schizophrenia, particularly when they are able to move around and perform tasks which stimulate brain function, will help early diagnosis and speed the development of new treatments. Existing brain imaging systems are large and unwieldy; it is particularly difficult to use them with children where a better understanding of epilepsy or brain injury would be of enormous benefit. The systems we will develop will be used initially for patients moving freely in shielded rooms but will eventually be capable of operation in less specialised environments. A new generation of QT based magnetometers, manufactured in the UK, will enable these advances. Precision timing is essential to many systems that we take for granted, including communications and radar. Ultra-precise oscillators, in a field deployable package, will enable radar systems to identify small slow-moving targets such as drones which are currently difficult to detect, bringing greater safety to airports and other sensitive locations. Our world is highly dependent on precise navigation. Although originally developed for defence, our civil infrastructure is critically reliant on GNSS. The ability to fix one's location underground, underwater, inside buildings or when satellite signals are deliberately disrupted can be greatly enhanced using QT sensing. Making Inertial Navigation Systems more robust and using novel techniques such as gravity map matching will alleviate many of these problems. In order to achieve all this, we will drive advanced physics research aimed at small, low power operation and translate it into engineered packages to bring systems of unparalleled capability within the reach of practical applications. Applied research will bring out their ability to deliver huge societal and economic benefit. By continuing to work with a cohort of industry partners, we will help establish a complete ecosystem for QT exploitation, with global reach but firmly rooted in the UK. These goals can only be met by combining the expertise of scientists and engineers across a broad spectrum of capability. The ability to engineer devices that can be deployed in challenging environments requires contributions from physics electronic engineering and materials science. The design of systems that possess the necessary characteristics for specific applications requires understanding from civil and electronic engineering, neuroscience and a wide range of stakeholders in the supply chain. The outputs from a sensor is of little value without the ability to translate raw data into actionable information: data analysis and AI skills are needed here. The research activities of the hub are designed to connect and develop these skills in a coordinated fashion such that the impact on our economy is accelerated.