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Magnetocardiography (MCG) provides noninvasive information about the electrical activity of the heart. Estimating and imaging the current density distribution on the epicardial surface of the heart can help diagnose myocardial infarction and other heart diseases.
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(a) 3D anatomy of the volume conductor of a patient aged 70 years who had non-sustained ventricular tachycardia that developed after anterior left-ventricular myocardial infarction and apical aneurysm. The Boundary Element Model included the torso and lung surfaces with a conductivity ratio of 1/5. The left ventricular surface (red) served as source space. (b) Magnetocardiogram (butterfly plot of 31 channels; MCG device by Philips, Hamburg, Germany) of the patient with the QRS highlighted in gray. (c) Reconstructed current density distribution (1200 left-ventricular endocardial dipoles regularly spaced with a mean distance of 3 mm). Low dipole magnitudes are observed in the apical segment of the left ventricle (the apical aneurysm) with a loss of electrically active myocardium [1].
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Bioelectric surface potentials and biomagnetic fields measured outside the body can non-invasively provide information about the electrically active tissues in the human body [2]. Electrocardiography (ECG) and magnetocardiography (MCG) are two modalities used to assess the electric heart function. Although the underlying sources are the same for bioelectric potentials and biomagnetic fields, different information can be contained in the two modalities [3]. Experimental observations in patients have indicated divergent ECG and MCG findings during both rest [4] and exercise [5]. Different information can also be seen in healthy volunteers during exercise [6]. The first MCG measurements were performed by Baule and McFee and published in 1963 [7]. MCG has been use to address many clinical questions for both arrhythmic and ischemic diseases [1].
This section is being updated by the corresponding editorial team. Please, check back soon.
This section is being updated by the corresponding editorial team. Please, check back soon.
[1] Leder U, Haueisen J, Huck M, and Nowak H, “Non-invasive imaging of arrhytmogenic left-ventricular myocardium after infarction,” The Lancet, vol. 352, p. 1825, 1998.
[2] Sander TH, Knosche TR, Schlogl A, et al. Recent advances in modeling and analysis of bioelectric and biomagnetic sources. Biomed Tech 2010; 55: 65–76.
[3] Irimia A, Swinney KR, Wikswo JP. Partial independence of bioelectric and biomagnetic fields and its implications for encephalography and cardiography. Phys Rev E 2009; 79 (5 Pt 1): 051908.
[4] Kwon H, Kim K, Lee YH, et al. Non-invasive magnetocardiography for the early diagnosis of coronary artery disease in patients presenting with acute chest pain. Circ J 2010; 74: 1424–1430.
[5] Park JW, Leithauser B, Vrsansky M, Jung F. Dobutamine stress magnetocardiography for the detection of significant coronary artery stenoses – A prospective study in comparison with simultaneous 12-lead electrocardiography. Clin Hemorheol Microcirc 2008; 39: 21–32.
[6] Brockmeier K, Schmitz L, Chavez JB, et al. Magnetocardiography and 32-lead potential mapping: repolarization in normal subjects during pharmacologically induced stress. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol 1997; 8: 615–626.
[7] Baule GM, McFee R. Detection of the magnetic field of the heart. American Heart Journal 1963;66:95-6.
