On the other hand, metallic EEG electrodes and especially the wires affect the magnetic fields and blur certain parts of the image. Epileptic spikes in EEG may be used for triggering the functional MRI session. Also successful co-registration of EEG and MRI has been reported with acceptable quality of EEG with the exception of the period during the RF pulses. There are few research laboratories that have both the MRI and EEG instrumentation. To combine these studies, co-operation with the hospitals is usually essential.
Medical projects involve also close collaboration between the clinicians and the research personnel.
Figure 4 shows a result of such collaboration between several departments of Tampere University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine in University of Tampere, and Ragnar Granit Institute in Tampere University of Technology. The video EEG recordings, MRI scans, spike detection and EEG interpretation, combination of EEG and MRI, 3D representation of the results, as well as the meeting for the clinical conclusions were all scheduled into one week. A general conclusion from these requirements is that whenever several investigations are combined, the organizational challenges increase faster than the amount of individual examinations. This sets high requirements for the management of any project involving the combination of EEG and MRI studies. Brenner R, Scheuer M, Cross-country digital EEG survey 1998.