Hoglund Brain Imaging Center
Mail Stop 1052
3901 Rainbow Boulevard
Kansas City, KS 66160
Phone: (913) 588-9077
Fax: (913) 588-9071
mpopescu@kumc.edu
Biographical Sketch
Dr. Popescu received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Patras, Greece. He worked as a postdoctoral scientific researcher at RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan. Since 2003, he joined the MEG Laboratory at Hoglund Brain Imaging Center and he is presently a Research Assistant Professor with the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology.
Research Overview
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a non-invasive brain imaging technique that measures the minute magnetic fields generated by synchronized electrical currents in neurons of the brain. Based on measurements performed with a large array of sensors, MEG can provide spatio-temporal information about the evoked or spontaneous brain activity. Whereas the millisecond temporal resolution of this technique recommends it for studying the dynamics of brain activity, an open question in the MEG research is about how precisely it can localize the underlying neuronal generators. One of my research interests is the development and evaluation of new approaches to the biomagnetic inverse problem using beamforming methods. The goal of this research is to improve the MEG source estimation accuracy, such as to achieve better characterization of the underlying brain generators in specific experimental settings. Current experimental MEG projects focus on the correlation between the evoked brain activity and behavioral profiles in children with Asperger syndrome, and on the effects of language interventions on the evoked brain responses in children with primary language disorder.
A second area of research is focusing on multi-channel biomagnetic recordings of the fetal heart activity. Fetal magnetocardiographic (fMCG) measurements are performed in our laboratory with a dedicated biomagnetometer system that enables screening of the fetal heart electrophysiology from early gestational ages. We seek to develop new computational approaches to the analysis of fMCG signals, using 3D reconstructed ultrasound images of the fetal-maternal anatomy to derive realistic volume conductor models, and to improve the estimators of fetal myocardial currents from the multi-channel fMCG recordings. The clinical validation of this methodology is conducted on fetuses with abnormal increase in ventricular wall thickness (cardiac hypertrophy). Our goal is to develop fMCG into a reliable technique for monitoring fetal heart electrophysiology and for early identification and diagnosis of congenital heart anomalies.
Recent publications
Popescu, M., Popescu, EA., Chan, T., Blunt, S., Lewine JD. (2008). Spatio-temporal reconstruction of bilateral auditory steady-state responses using MEG beamformers. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering 55 (3):1092-1102.
Popescu, EA., Popescu, M., Wang, J., Barlow, SM., Fitzgerald-Gustafson, K. (2008). Non-nutritive sucking recorded in utero via fetal magnetography. Physiological Measurement 29, 127-139.
Popescu, EA., Popescu, M., Bennet, TL., Lewine, JD., Drake, W., Fitzgerald-Gustafson, K. (2007). Magnetographic assessment of fetal hiccups and their effect on fetal heart rhythm. Physiological Measurement 28, 665-676. PMID: 17664620
Popescu, M., Popescu, EA., Fitzgerald-Gustafson, K., Drake, W., Lewine, J. (2006). Reconstruction of Fetal Cardiac Vectors from Multichannel fMCG Data Using Recursively Applied and Projected Multiple Signal Classification. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering 53 (12 pt1): 2564-2576. PMID: 17153214
Dancause, N., Barbay, S., Frost, S.B., Plautz, E.J., Popescu, M., Dixon, P.M., Stowe, A.M., Friel, K.M., Nudo, R.J. (2006). Topographically Divergent and Convergent Connectivity between Premotor and Primary Motor Cortex. Cerebral Cortex 16 (8):1057-1068. PMID: 16221929
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