Measurement of T wave in magnetocardiography using tunnel magnetoresistance sensor

Several critical clinical applications of magnetocardiography(MCG)involve its T wave.The T wave’s accuracy directly affects the diagnostic accuracy of MCG for ischemic heart disease and arrhythmogenic.Tunnel magnetoresistance(TMR)attracts attention as a new MCG measurement technique.However,the T waves measured by TMR are often drowned in noise.The accuracy of T waves needs to be discussed to determine the clinical value of MCG measured by TMR.This study uses an improved empirical mode decomposition(EMD)algorithm and averaging to eliminate the noise in the MCG measured by TMR.The MCG signals measured by TMR are compared with MCG measured by the optically pumped magnetometer(OPM)to judge its accuracy.Using the MCG measured by OPM as a reference,the relative errors in time and amplitude of the T wave measured by TMR are 3.4%and 1.8%,respectively.This is the first demonstration that TMR can accurately measure the time and amplitude of MCG T waves.The ability to provide reliable T wave data illustrates the significant clinical application value of TMR in MCG measurement.

A synthetic optically pumped gradiometer for magnetocardiography measurements

Magnetocardiography(MCG)measurement is important for investigating the cardiac biological activities.Traditionally,the extremely weak MCG signal was detected by using superconducting quantum interference devices(SQUIDs).As a room-temperature magnetic-field sensor,optically pumped magnetometer(OPM)has shown to have comparable sensitivity to that of SQUIDs,which is very suitable for biomagnetic measurements.In this paper,a synthetic gradiometer was constructed by using two OPMs under spin-exchange relaxation-free(SERF)conditions within a moderate magnetically shielded room(MSR).The magnetic noise of the OPM was measured to less than 70 fT/Hz1/2.Under a baseline of 100 mm,noise cancellation of about 30 dB was achieved.MCG was successfully measured with a signal to noise ratio(SNR)of about 37 dB.The synthetic gradiometer technique was very effective to suppress the residual environmental fields,demonstrating the OPM gradiometer technique for highly cost-effective biomagnetic measurements.

Low-T_c direct current superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer-based 36-channel magnetocardiography system in a magnetically shielded room

We constructed a 36-channel magnetocardiography（MCG） system based on low-Tc direct current（DC） superconducting quantum interference device（SQUID） magnetometers operated inside a magnetically shielded room（MSR）. Weakly damped SQUID magnetometers with large Steward–Mc Cumber parameter βc（βc≈ 5）, which could directly connect to the operational amplifier without any additional feedback circuit, were used to simplify the readout electronics. With a flux-to-voltage transfer coefficient V / Φ larger than 420 μV/Φ0, the SQUID magnetometers had a white noise level of about 5.5 f T·Hz-1/2when operated in MSR. 36 sensing magnetometers and 15 reference magnetometers were employed to realize software gradiometer configurations. The coverage area of the 36 sensing magnetometers is 210×210 mm2. MCG measurements with a high signal-to-noise ratio of 40 d B were done successfully using the developed system.

Baseline optimization of SQUID gradiometer for magnetocardiography

SQUID gradiometer techniques are widely used in noise cancellation for biomagnetic measurements.An appropriate gradiometer baseline is very important for the biomagnetic detection with high performance.By placing several magnetometers at different heights along the vertical direction,we could simultaneously obtain the synthetic gradiometers with different baselines.By using the traditional signal-to-noise ratio（SNR） as a performance index,we successfully obtain an optimal baseline for the magnetocardiography（MCG） measurement in a magnetically shielded room（MSR）.Finally,we obtain an optimal baseline of 7 cm and use it for the practical MCG measurement in our MSR.The SNR about 38 dB is obtained in the recorded MCG signal.

Residual field suppression for magnetocardiography measurement inside a thin magnetically shielded room using bi-planar coil

For a magnetocardiography(MCG)system inside a magnetically shielded room(MSR),the residual field should be further suppressed to obtain high-quality MCG signals.In this paper,a compensation system has been developed based on the bi-planar coil and the proportional-integral-derivative(PID)controller.The bi-planar coil,derived from the target-field theory and the Tikhonov regularization method,is utilized to generate magnetic field with high uniformity in the predefined target region.And the PID controller is introduced to provide dynamic compensation current for the coil,according to the residual field change monitored by a reference SQUID magnetometer.The measurement results show that the noise suppression ratio(NSR)can reach above 20 dB in the low-frequency range from 0.1 Hz to 50 Hz.The DC component and the fluctuation of the residual field in time-domain can be respectively suppressed to 0 p T and 4 p T,indicating that this proposed compensation method is useful for the MCG measurement.

Cardiac electrical activity imaging of patients with CRBBB or CLBBB in magnetocardiography

A new method for the imaging of cardiac electrical activity in patients with complete right bundle branch block （CRBBB） or complete left bundle branch block （CLBBB） is investigated using magnetocardiographic recordings of the surface of the body. This is based on the assumption that an equivalent single-current dipole moves along the unblocked bundle branch, whose position in the measurement plane is expressed in terms of the maximum and minimum, as well as the maximum gradient value of the measured magnetic field. The trajectory of the moving dipole on the measurement plane is indicative of theexcitation conduction of the CRBBB or CLBBB subject during ventricular depolarization and repolarization, which is deduced by comparing each change between the dipole moment and the maximum current density in a corresponding pseudo-current density map. In summary, this method can distinguish CRBBB from CLBBB subjects by means of the dipole depth and two dipole moment components. The possibility of visualizing the excitation conduction in a CRBBB or CLBBB subject during ventricular depolarization and repolarization is then discussed.

A digital filtering scheme for SQUID based magnetocardiography

Considering the properties of slow change and quasi-periodicity of magnetocardiography （MCG） signal, we use an integrated technique of adaptive and low-pass filtering in dealing with two-channel MCG data measured by high Tc SQUIDs. The adaptive filter in the time domain is based on a noise feedback normalized least-mean-square （NLMS） algorithm, and the low-pass filter with a cutoff at 100Hz in the frequeucy domain characterized by Caussian functions is combined with a notch at the power line frequency. In this way, both relevant and irrelevant noises in original MCG data are largely eliminated. The method may also be useful for other slowly varying quasi-periodical signals.

Magnetocardiography capabilities in myocardium injuries diagnosis

Objective: The electrophysiological properties of the myocardium are extremely heterogeneous. Verification of new magnetocardiography (MCG) signs appears an important aspect for severity assessment of ischemic myocardium damage, ischemic heart disease (IHD) course prognosis, determining of indications for preventive “aggressive” therapy and estimation of its efficacy in patients with IHD. The objective of this research was the investigation of magnetocardiography (MCG) capabilities in diagnosis of ischemic and inflammatory myocardial injuries using new MCG markers of the spatiotemporal organization of myocardium excitation. Methods and results: There were 128 patients examined in three groups. Group 1 contained 34 healthy volunteers. Group 2 contained 62 patients with IHD diagnosis. Group 3 included 32 comparatively young patients with acute myocarditis diagnosis. MCG-mapping of patients was performed at rest on the 7-channel MCG-scanners “Cardiomagscan” V 3.1 (Company KMG, Ukraine) in non-shielded MCG laboratory. 11 MCG markers were determined for selected time intervals of the cardiac cycle. Obtained data provided evidences about significant differences in values of proposed MCG markers for various groups. In patients with AMI, rate of parameters change is higher than without AMI (Sub-groups 2.1 and 2.2 differ by 8 MCG markers). Patients of 2nd and 3rd groups are different from healthy patients by 8 of 11 markers. Analysis of the obtained data has demonstrated good capabilities of MCG in differential diagnostics. Application of discriminatory analysis allowed us to get classification functions, which could be used (with 82% accuracy) to qualify the just examined patient to the investigated categories. Conclusion: Based on the new methodological approach during the studies, the most informative MCG-criteria of space-temporal organization of myocardium excitation in patients with IHD has been proposed. The method is able to distinguish healthy subjects and myocarditis patients and patients with IHD without previous MI with high sensitivity and specificity.

Multichannel fetal magnetocardiography using SQUID bootstrap circuit

Fetal magnetocardiography （MCG） is a sophisticated non-invasive technique for the fetal heart diagnosis. We constructed a multichannel fetal MCG system based on a novel superconducting quantum interference device （SQUID） direct readout scheme called SQUID bootstrap circuit （SBC）. The system incorporates four SBC gradiometers for the signal detection and three SBC magnetometers as the references. The fetal MCG signal at a 28-weeks’ gestation was measured. By the fetal MCG signal separation and average, the P-wave and QRS complex can be clearly identified. These results indicate that the SBC is one of the most promising techniques for the fetal MCG recordings.

Diagnostic value of magnetocardiography in patients with coronary heart disease and in-stent restenosis

Background In-stent restenosis （ISR） has become one of the most challenging problems in patients with coronary heart disease. At present, using non-invasive methods to assess ISR is a hot topic. In this investigation we attempted to explore the potential of magnetocardiography （MCG） in diagnosis of in-stent restenosis. Methods MCG was analyzed in 52 patients with coronary artery disease for three times： before stenting, one month and 7 months after successful intracoronary stenting. Results The average classification of total maps （ACTM） and the ratio of abnormal maps （RAM） were lower in 1 month after intracoronary stenting compared with that obtained before stent planting （2.91 vs 2.52, 65.74% vs 42.80%, P〈0.01）, while complex ventricular excitation index （CVEI） increased from -42.63 to -20.05 （P〈0.01）. In ISR subgroup （n=16）, RAM decreased in 1 month after intracoronary stenting compared to it before stenting （68.99% vs 45.26%, P〈0.05）. ACTM increased in 7 months compared to that obtained in 1 month after stenting （3.15 vs 2.51, P〈0.05）. According to the ROC curve, ACTM showed its unique diagnostic value in restenosis patients. The sensitivity and specificity of ACTM were 80.0%, 69.40%, respectively. Its positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 54.6% and 88.5%, respectively. Conclusions After successful intracoronary stenting, most parameters of MCG were improved. ACTM was of prognostic value in diagnosing ISR.

Inverse computation for cardiac sources using single current dipole and current multipole models

Two cardiac functional models are constructed in this paper. One is a single current model and the other is a current multipole model. Parameters denoting the properties of these two models are calculated by a least-square fit to the measurements using a simulated annealing algorithm. The measured signals are detected at 36 observation nodes by a superconducting quantum interference device （SQUID）. By studying the trends of position, orientation and magnitude of the single current dipole model and the current multipole model in the QRS complex during one time span and comparing the reconstructed magnetocardiography （MCG） of these two cardiac models, we find that the current multipole model is a more appropriate model to represent cardiac electrophysiological activity.

Measurements,characteristics,and origin of new electromagnetic interference on magnetocardiographic measurements

In order to eliminate the influence of the large-amplitude magnetic field noise that has complicated magnetocardio- graphic studies since October 2009, we have performed high-accuracy measurement of the environmental magnetic field noise in the vicinity of Beijing Subway Line 4 using a three-component height Tc radio frequency （rf） superconducting quantum interference device （SQUID）. By analysing the spatial form and other characteristics of the time and the fre- quency domains and by calculating the circumferential magnetic field distribution based on a duel-end feeding system model, we reach the following conclusions： （i） the main source of magnetic field noise is the magnetic field generated by thel subway trains, and （ii） the magnetic field interference results mainly from the imbalance between traction current and return rail current that is caused by the leakage current.

A SQUID gradiometer module with large junction shunt resistors

A dual-washer superconducting quantum interference device （SQUID） with a loop inductance of 350 pH and two on- washer integrated input coils is designed according to conventional niobium technology. In order to obtain a large SQUID flux-to-voltage transfer coefficient, the junction shunt resistance is selected to be 33 Ω. A vertical SQUID gradiometer module with a baseline of 100 mm is constructed by utilizing such a SQUID and a first-order niobium wire-wound antenna. The sensitivity of this module reaches about 0.2 fT/（cm.Hz1/2） in the white noise range using a direct readout scheme, i.e., the SQUID is directly connected to an operational amplifier, in a magnetically shielded room. Some magnetocardiography （MCG） measurements with a sufficiently high signal-to-noise ratio （SNR） are demonstrated.

Value of Topology Approach to Diagnose of CAD Based on Magnetocardiographic Current Distribution Maps in Difficult-to-Diagnose Patients

Objective: The purpose of this work is to examine the usefulness of the topological approach for analysis of current density maps during ST-T interval in detection of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with proved CAD but normal results of routine tests. Materials and Methods: The patient group included 123 patients. Coronary angiography was done due to chest pain. The control group consisted of 124 healthy volunteers. The MCG test was done by 4-channels MCG system installed at unshielded setting. An integral topological index Kideal, consisting of 4 parameters, has been counted. Results and Conclusions: It is shown that Kideal was higher in patient group compared to control one. Sensitivity was 87%, and specificity was 64%. The topological analysis of MCG current density maps is a valuable tool in noninvasive detection of CAD in difficult-to-diagnose patients with uninformative results of routine tests.

Characteristic parameters of electromagnetic signals from a human heart system

The electromagnetic field of a human heart system is a bioelectromagnetic field. Electrocardiography （ECG） and magnetocardiography （MCG） are both carriers of electromagnetic information about the cardiac system, and they are nonstationary signals. In this study, ECG and MCG data from healthy subjects are acquired; the MCG data are captured using a high-Tc radio frequency superconducting quantum interference device （HTc rf SQUIDs） and the QRS complexes in these data are analysed by the evolutionary spectrum analysis method. The results show that the quality factor Q and the central frequency fz of the QRS complex evolutionary spectrum are the characteristic parameters （CHPs） of ECG and MCG in the time-frequency domain. The confidence intervals of the mean values of the CHPs are estimated by the Student t distribution method in mathematical statistics. We believe that there are threshold ranges of the mean values of Q and fz for healthy subjects. We have postulated the following criterion： if the mean values of CHPs are in the proper ranges, the cardiac system is in a normal condition and it possesses the capability of homeostasis. In contrast, if the mean values of the CHPs do not lie in the proper ranges, the homeostasis of the cardiac system is lacking and some cardiac disease may follow. The results and procedure of MCG CHPs in the study afford a technological route for the application of HTc rf SQUIDs in cardiology.

An NLMS algorithm with optimized preparatory step-size parameters for SQUID-based MCG data processing

We present a new least-mean-square algorithm of adaptive filtering to improve the signal to noise ratio for magneto-cardiography data collected with high-temperature SQUID-based magnetometers. By frequently adjusting the adaptive parameter a go systematic optimum values in the course of the programmed procedure, the convergence is accelerated with a highest speed and the minimum steady-state error is obtained simultaneously. This algorithm may be applied to eliminate other non-steady relevant noises as well.

Singular value decomposition with normalized period for magnetocaridiography signal processing

In this paper, we have developed an algorithm based on singular value decomposition （SVD） for matrix. And the novel SVD algorithm with normalized period of cardiac cycles is presented. The results from real magnetocardiography （MCG） data processing show that the new algorithm is better than the standard one not only in suppressing noises, but also in providing high-fidelity MCG signals.

Comparative analysis of current and magnetic multipole graphical models

In recent year, a multipole graphical model, which is constructed by using individual MCG measurements based on the equivalent current dipole (ECD) or equivalent magnetic dipole (EMD) source model, has been developed with the aim of instead of the volume conductor model in the inverse solution of cardiac source estimation. In this paper, two graphical models known as the double magnetic dipole source model (DMD) and the dual current dipole source model (DCD) are introduced. The simulation results and the comparison of two evaluation criteria, i.e. average GOF (Goodness of Fit) and average RMSE (Root Mean Square Error), indicated that both multipole graphical models can provide a good representation of dynamic magnetic field from the noninvasively detected MCG- recordings, even when the heart is of the dilation. The time-averaged sources localization error and the RMSE for both models are demonstrated, and the characteristic of two multipole models is discussed.

2D and 3D Analysis of Magnetocardiographic Data in the Evaluation of the Ventricular Repolarization Changes under Exercise Stress Test in Patients with CAD

Objective: Non-invasive methods of evaluation of electrical activity of the heart are still the most important functional diagnostics methods in coronary artery disease (CAD) detection. It has been shown that magnetocardiography (MCG) appears to be rather sensitive in diagnostics of chronic CAD even in the patients at rest with unchanged ECG. The objective of present paper is to investigate the influence of non-invasive tests with a physical exerciseon MCG parameters in the patients with chronic CAD. Materials and Methods: In total, 10 patients were examined (mean age 41 ± 5 years) suffering from chronic stable angina (CAD). CAD was diagnosed by clinical evidences, bicycle ergometria positive data and coronary angiography (stenosis > 70% in at least onr main coronary angiography). The control group consisted of 14 healthy volunteers. MCG mapping was performed by means of a 7-channel SQUID-magnetometer installed in an unshielded room. The MCG examination was conducted twice, whilst patients were at rest and after exercise on the bicycle (in healthy persons it was conducted immediately after exercise and in the patients, after the ST depression and/or chest pain had disappeared). The homogeneity and electric motive force (EMF) direction disturbances on magnetic field distribution maps on an extent of ST-T interval have been evaluated. Results: Statistically significant differences between groups examined based both on 2D and 3D quantitative criteria were demonstrated. Conclusion: The application of a set of MCG criteria based on the analysis both of ventricular depolarization and repolarization will enable a greater degree of accuracy for the results of the exercise stress test, especially in doubtful cases.

Sparse current source reconstruction in MCG

Cardiac current source reconstruction is investigated by a fast greedy sparse(FGS) method applied to simulated and real magnetocardiography(MCG) data measured using 61-channel superconducting quantum interference device. The approach reduces the size of the lead field matrix based on a priori knowledge of dipolar magnetic field map. Consequently, the computational demands and the accuracy of sparse source reconstruction are improved simultaneously. The simulation results demonstrate that the FGS method is capable of reconstructing sparse equivalent current sources using the magnetic field data generated by a single current source with varying orientation or multiple current sources generated randomly. In addition, we analyze the cardiac current source reconstructed with real MCG data at typical instants and discuss the electrical excitation conduction during the QRS complex based on moving sparse source imaging.