基于原子磁力仪的人体心磁测量

Measurement of cardiac magnetic field based on atomic magnetometry

心电图检测是诊断人体心脏疾病的重要方法,然而心电图检测可能无法及时准确地诊断冠心病等心脏疾病的病情。另一种预测和诊断这种心脏疾病的方法是心磁图检测。心磁图检测是一种非接触式、无创伤、快速检测缺血性冠动脉疾病的方法。目前国际上对心脏磁场的测量主要利用基于超导量子干涉器件(SQUID)的磁力仪,由于SQUID必须在液氦的低温环境下才能工作,其制造成本和维护费用均很高,难以推广。本文报道了一种脉冲泵浦式原子磁力仪的心磁测量技术,测量灵敏度达到1 pT/Hz^(1/2),并能够快速响应外部磁场的变化。利用这种原子磁力仪在常温环境下清晰地测量到了人体的心磁信号,这是国内首次用原子磁力仪实现对心脏磁场信号的探测,该成果将促进人体磁场测量的科学研究和临床应用。

Electrocardiogram is an important modality for diagnosis of heart disease, but it may fail to timely and accurately diagnose coronary heart disease and other cardiac conditions. As a non-contact and non-invasive technique, magnetocardiography provides an alternative for predicting and diagnosing heart diseases and allows rapid detection of ischemic cardiovascular disease. So far the measurement of heart magnetic field depends mainly on superconducting quantum interference device （SQUID）, which needs to work in liquid helium condition （-269 °C） with high manufacturing and maintenance costs. Herein, we report a pulse pump Rb atomic magnetometer based on optical rotation effect with a sensitivity of 1 pT/Hz1/2. This magnetometer can quickly respond to changes in external magnetic fields. Using this magnetometer, we successfully measured the magnetic signals from the human heart at room temperature, which represents the first successful attempt of measuring cardiac magnetic field using atomic magnetometer in China. This success will promote the advance of research and clinical application of magnetic field measurement.