Government provides £3.1m for transformational tech which will
assess how blast exposure from weapons training affects the brain
to better protect personnel.
Scientists will develop the world's first fully mobile
magnetoencephalography (MEG) brain scanner capable of measuring
the effects of blast exposure on military personnel in real time
at training sites.
The scanner, which will be used for the first time ever by Cyber
& Specialist Operations Command's Defence Medical Services,
will enable researchers to see exactly what happens to brain
function within minutes of blast exposure and watch how personnel
recover - potentially transforming how those who serve are
protected.
The Ministry of Defence has provided more than £3m to create this
world first scanner, which is based on a transformational quantum
technology. Crucially, the mobile laboratory will deploy directly
to military firing ranges, field hospitals and rehabilitation
centres, bringing the technology where it is needed most.
This will enable evidence-based decision making to protect
service personnel from any potential harmful effects.
The system will be built by University of Nottingham spin-out
company Cerca Magnetics and used by the Defence Medical Services,
in collaboration with world-leading scientists from the
Universities of Nottingham and Birmingham, to understand the
effects of blast exposure.
Minister for Veterans and People, MP said:
The safety of our personnel is a top priority. Thanks to
technologies like this, even subtle physical changes are now
becoming detectable, and we will get crucial insights that simply
weren't possible before, improving decision-making and vital
protections for our forces.
This funding demonstrates our commitment to renewing the nation's
contract with those who serve, but also shows how defence
innovation benefits wider society, including those impacted by
dementia, epilepsy and concussion.
This physics breakthrough cements UK's leadership in defence
science and brain imaging, delivering on the Government's Plan
for Change, and has positive implications extending far beyond
the military, significantly benefitting research into sports
concussion, dementia, and epilepsy.
Lt Col James Mitchell, Consultant Neurologist and Chief
Investigator of the UK Military Blast Study at the UK Defence
Medical Services, said:
This new system, a world first, will be transformative for
research into the effects of blast exposure on our
personnel.
For the first time we will be able to build a time-stamped,
accurate picture of exactly what happens to the brain in the
minutes and hours after blast exposure and track recovery over
time. Ultimately, we expect this system to help provide robust,
scientifically informed policy on safe working practices for
blast exposure.
The breakthrough addresses a critical defence challenge: repeated
exposure to shock waves from high-power weapons might cause
subtle changes in brain function, which, over a career, may
increase the likelihood of serious brain health conditions.
Yet safe exposure levels remain unknown because the effects are
subtle and fleeting – often disappearing within 24-48 hours –
making them impossible to capture with conventional
laboratory-based scanners.
Professor Matthew Brookes, professor of physics at the
University of Nottingham and chairman of Cerca magnetics, has
pioneered OPM-MEG technology for a decade. He said:
This new generation of MEG lifts limitations that have
historically confined scanners to universities, paving the way
for mobile systems that can be taken directly to those who will
benefit most. The introduction of mobile systems will likely
revolutionise other fields too, whether parked outside hospitals
to assess neurological conditions or at sports grounds to scan
players following concussion.
The system will enable rapid scans, providing objective
assessment of changes in brain function and informing decisions
on safe return to duty. By investigating multiple weapon types
and tracking recovery patterns, the project will deliver
transformative insights into which personnel face greatest risk
and establish evidence-based exposure limits.
Professor Karen Mullinger, from the Universities of
Nottingham and Birmingham, will co-lead the research programme
using the new system. She said:
OPM-MEG is a quantum technology which non-invasively measures
electrical brain function with unprecedented precision and
sensitivity. This makes it the perfect technology for
characterising the acute effects of blast exposure on neural
activity. Our unique system will enable us to understand and
quantify the effect of blast from specific weaponry in the hours
to days after exposure has happened
The technology underpinning the mobile-MEG scanner has been under
development for a decade, supported by the UK National Quantum
Technologies Programme – an initiative backed by the Department
for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and MOD.
Construction will be undertaken in collaboration with UK-based
technology company Magnetic Shields Limited, US-based atomic
device company QuSpin and the University of Nottingham School of
Physics. The system is expected to be operational by 31 March
2026.
