Wireless optically pumped magnetometer MEG

•A pioneering wireless optically pumped magnetometer (OPM) MEG prototype is developed and evaluated.•Wireless OPM-MEG is achieved with significantly reduced magnetization in electronics and an optimized communication protocol.•The performance of our wireless OPM-MEG is comparable to that of wired systems.•Wireless OPM-MEG simplifies measurement and enables flexible experimental designs for wearable neuroimaging. The current magnetoencephalography (MEG) systems, which rely on cables for control and signal transmission, do not fully realize the potential of wearable optically pumped magnetometers (OPM). This study presents a significant advancement in wireless OPM-MEG by reducing magnetization in the electronics and developing a tailored wireless communication protocol. Our protocol effectively eliminates electromagnetic interference, particularly in the critical frequency bands of MEG signals, and accurately synchronizes the acquisition and stimulation channels with the host computer's clock. We have successfully achieved single-channel wireless OPM-MEG measurement and demonstrated its reliability by replicating three well-established experiments: The alpha rhythm, auditory evoked field, and steady-state visual evoked field in the human brain. Our prototype wireless OPM-MEG system not only streamlines the measurement process but also represents a major step forward in the development of wearable OPM-MEG applications in both neuroscience and clinical research.