Mihai Popescu, Ph.D.

Research Assistant Professor

Research Focus

Development of advanced MEG and fetal MCG source reconstruction techniques

Research Interests

I am using multi-channel biomagnetic (MEG) recordings to study the cortical network dynamics underlying sensory and cognitive processing under normal and disease conditions. Current experimental studies are focusing on the correlation between the evoked brain activity and behavioral profiles in children and adolescents with Asperger syndrome, and the effects of language interventions on the evoked brain responses in children with primary language disorder. Another area of research focuses on multi-channel biomagnetic recordings of the fetal heart activity. We are currently developing new computational approaches to the analysis of fetal magnetocardiographic (fMCG) signals, using realistic volume conductor models derived from ultrasound images of the fetal-maternal anatomy. The clinical validation of this methodology is conducted on fetuses with 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.