Magnetometric Investigations of Biomagnetic Signals: Magnetocardiography

Abstract

Introduction. Superconducting magnetometers based on SQUIDs (SQUID- Superconducting QUantum Interference Device) are currently used to register weak magnetic fields generated in various human organs and measured outside the body (in the environment). The creation of information technology, which is a set of methods and software tools combined into a technological chain that ensures registration, storage, pre-processing, analysis of measurement data and automatic diagnostic output, is an essential science-intensive component that determines the possibilities and success of the applied use of non-contact diagnostic systems of the human heart The purpose. Article presents new algorithms for spatial analysis of cardiomagnetic signal measurement results. The algorithms are based on the inverse problem solution, when the magnetic field source is matched to the spatial distribution of the magnetic signal and the parameters and spatial configuration of the source are determined. A model of the cardiomagnetic source was used in the form of a system of current density vectors, which are distributed in a plane that is parallel to the measurement plane and crosses the volume of the heart. Results. The inverse problem is solved using the apparatus of two-dimensional integral Fourier transformations. The data transformation algorithm allows to correctly take into account the design of the magnetic flux transformer (the dimensions of the pickup coils, their spatial location and the electrical connection scheme). Algorithm modifications have been developed for most of the known (implemented in existing magnetocardiographs) designs of magnetic flux transformers of the first and second order gradientometers. The operation of the algorithm is modeled on real data of magnetometric investigations of the human heart. Investigations have shown that the application of the proposed algorithms allows obtaining new information about the spatial configuration of the magnetic signal source in the human heart, which can be used in the future for the diagnosis of human heart diseases. Keywords: magnetocardiography, inverse problem of magnetostatics, Fourier transform, SQUID gradientometer.