Advances in Biomagnetism

In the present article the architecture of a computer~ontrolled system for the acquisition and processing of signals and the simultaneous display of results is described for use in multichannel magneto--encephalography (MEG) experiments. It is shown that by selecting this architecture, that includes both state-of-the-art hardware concepts and interactive real-time software, a system has been developed that offers the combination of high performance and easy modifiability to the experiment. The paper especially emphasizes the importance of modularity and flexibility in hardware and in software design, since both determine the (im)possibilities of future MEG experiments. The present architecture offers a contribution to defining the necessary standards for data acquisition and processing in magnetoencephalography. Finally we report on some preliminary performance results obtained from a system built and implemented according to this architecture.