A movable unshielded magnetocardiography system

Sci Adv. 2023 Mar 29;9(13):eadg1746. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adg1746. Epub 2023 Mar 29.

Abstract

Magnetocardiography (MCG), which uses high-sensitivity magnetometers to record magnetic field signals generated by electrical activity in the heart, is a noninvasive method for evaluating heart diseases such as arrhythmia and ischemia. The MCG measurements usually require the participant keeping still in a magnetically shielded room due to the immovable sensor and noisy external environments. These requirements limit MCG applications, such as exercise MCG tests and long-term MCG observations, which are useful for early detections of heart diseases. Here, we introduce a movable MCG system that can clearly record MCG signals of freely behaving participants in an unshielded environment. On the basis of optically pumped magnetometers with a sensitivity of 140 fT/Hz1/2, we successfully demonstrated the resting MCG and the exercise MCG tests. Our method is promising to realize a practical movable multichannel unshielded MCG system that nearly sets no limits to participants and brings another kind of insight into the medical diagnosis of heart disease.

MeSH terms

  • Arrhythmias, Cardiac / diagnosis
  • Exercise Test
  • Heart
  • Heart Diseases*
  • Humans
  • Magnetocardiography* / methods