Progress in Superconductivity

The Korean Superconductivity Society (한국초전도학회)
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Review of Magnetocardiography Technology based on SQUIDs

SQUID를 이용한 심자도 기술의 개발동향

  • Lee, Y.H. (Brain and Cognition Measurement Lab, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science) ;
  • Kwon, H. (Brain and Cognition Measurement Lab, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science) ;
  • Kim, J.M. (Brain and Cognition Measurement Lab, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science) ;
  • Kim, K. (Brain and Cognition Measurement Lab, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science) ;
  • Yu, K.K. (Brain and Cognition Measurement Lab, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science) ;
  • Park, Y.K. (Brain and Cognition Measurement Lab, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science)
  • Received : 2012.04.18
  • Accepted : 2012.04.20
  • Published : 2012.04.30
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Abstract

Electric activity of cardiac muscles generates magnetic fields. Magnetocardiography (or MCG) technology, measuring these magnetic signals, can provide useful information for the diagnosis of heart diseases. It is already about 40 years ago that the first measurement of MCG signals was done by D. Cohen using SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) sensor inside a magnetically shielded room. In the early period of MCG history, bulky point-contact RF-SQUID was used as the magnetic sensor. Thanks to the development of Nb-based Josephson junction technology in mid 1980s and new design of tightly-coupled DC-SQUID, low-noise SQUID sensors could be developed in late 1980s. In around 1990, several groups developed multi-channel MCG systems and started clinical study. However, it is quite recent years that the true usefulness of MCG was verified in clinical practice, for example, in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. For the practical MCG system, technical elements of MCG system should be optimized in terms of performance, fabrication cost and operation cost. In this review, development history, technical issue, and future development direction of MCG technology are described.

Keywords

References

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