Magnetocardiography on an isolated animal heart with a room-temperature optically pumped magnetometer

Optically pumped magnetometers are becoming a promising alternative to cryogenically-cooled superconducting magnetometers for detecting and imaging biomagnetic fields. Magnetic field detection is a completely non-invasive method, which allows one to study the function of excitable human organs with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2018-11, Vol.8 (1), p.16218-9, Article 16218
Main Authors: Jensen, Kasper, Skarsfeldt, Mark Alexander, Stærkind, Hans, Arnbak, Jens, Balabas, Mikhail V., Olesen, Søren-Peter, Bentzen, Bo Hjorth, Polzik, Eugene S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Body temperature
Cesium
Electrocardiography
Heart
Humanities and Social Sciences
Magnetic fields
Magnetometers
multidisciplinary
Neuroimaging
Paraffin
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Spatial discrimination
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Summary:Optically pumped magnetometers are becoming a promising alternative to cryogenically-cooled superconducting magnetometers for detecting and imaging biomagnetic fields. Magnetic field detection is a completely non-invasive method, which allows one to study the function of excitable human organs with a sensor placed outside the human body. For instance, magnetometers can be used to detect brain activity or to study the activity of the heart. We have developed a highly sensitive miniature optically pumped magnetometer based on cesium atomic vapor kept in a paraffin-coated glass container. The magnetometer is optimized for detection of biological signals and has high temporal and spatial resolution. It is operated at room- or human body temperature and can be placed in contact with or at a mm-distance from a biological object. With this magnetometer, we detected the heartbeat of an isolated guinea-pig heart, which is an animal widely used in biomedical studies. In our recordings of the magnetocardiogram, we can detect the P-wave, QRS-complex and T-wave associated with the cardiac cycle in real time. We also demonstrate that our device is capable of measuring the cardiac electrographic intervals, such as the RR- and QT-interval, and detecting drug-induced prolongation of the QT-interval, which is important for medical diagnostics.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-34535-z