• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.167-173
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• 2003

Measuring subtle neuromagnetic signals requires eliminating background noises. Especially, a SQUID magnetometer is very sensitive to the magnetic noise even from a distant source. As typical software methods, we use the synthetic gradiometer of the adaptive filtering to reduce the noises. In this article, we present noise reduction effects in our 37-channel SQUID magnetometer system by applying each method including the frequency-domain adaptive filtering and discuss a selective application of the methods to the detection of clinical magnetoencephalogram signals.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.105-110
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• 2011

SQUID sensor-based ultra low-field magnetic resonance apparatus with ${\mu}T$-level measurement field requires a strong prepolarization magnetic field ($B_p$) to magnetize its sample and obtain magnetic resonance signal with a high signal-to-noise ratio. This $B_p$ needs to be ramped down very quickly so that it does not interfere with signal acquisition which must take place before the sample magnetization relaxes off. A MOSFET switch-based $B_p$ coil driver has current ramp-down time ($t_{rd}$) that increases with $B_p$ current, which makes it unsuitable for driving high-field $B_p$ coil made of superconducting material. An energy cycling-type current driver has been developed for such a coil. This driver contains a storage capacitor inside a switch in IGBT-diode bridge configuration, which can manipulate how the capacitor is connected between the $B_p$ coil and its current source. The implemented circuit with 1.2 kV-tolerant devices was capable of driving 32 A current into a thick copper-wire solenoid $B_p$ coil with a 182 mm inner diameter, 0.23 H inductance, and 5.4 mT/A magnetic field-to-current ratio. The measured trd was 7.6 ms with a 160 ${\mu}F$ storage capacitor. trd was dependent only on the inductance of the coil and the capacitance of the driver capacitor. This driver is scalable to significantly higher current of superconducting $B_p$ coils without the $t_{rd}$ becoming unacceptably long with higher $B_p$ current.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.111-116
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• 2011

Since superconducting wires have no resistance, electromagnets based on the superconducting wires produce no resistive heating with DC current as long as the current does not exceed the critical current of the wire. However, unlike resistive wires, superconducting wires exhibit AC heat loss. Embedding fine superconducting filaments inside copper matrix can reduce this AC loss to an acceptable level and opens the way to AC-capable superconducting coils. Here, we introduce an easy and accurate method to measure AC heat loss from sample superconducting coils by measuring changes in the rate of gas helium outflow from the liquid helium dewar in which the sample coil is placed. This method provides accurate information on total heat loss of a superconducting coil without any size limit, as long as the coil can fit inside the liquid helium dewar. With this method, we have evaluated AC heat loss of two superconducting solenoids, a 180-turn solid NbTi wire with 0.127 mm diameter (NbTi coil) and a 100-turn filamented wire with 1.4 mm diameter where 7 NbTi filaments were embedded in a copper matrix with copper to NbTi ratio of 6.7:1 (NbTi-Cu coil). Both coils were wound on 15 mm-diameter G-10 epoxy tubes. The AC heat losses of the NbTi and NbTi-Cu coils were evaluated as $53{\pm}4.7\;{\mu}W/A^2Hzcm^3$ and $0.67{\pm}0.16\;{\mu}W/A^2Hzcm^3$, respectively.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.40-44
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• 2007

We investigated signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of magnetocardiography (MCG) signals using the first-order and the second-order gradiometers of different baselines. The MCG signals were recorded using a measurement system with 61 magnetometers which measured the normal magnetic component to the chest surface. The distance between the chest surface and the bottom of the dewar was changed from 0 cm to 15 cm, and the MCGs were measured for each distance. By subtracting the other signals (distance = 1 to 15 cm) from the reference signal (distance =0 cm), we could simulate the first-order and the second-order gradiometer signals with various baselines. In addition, to evaluate the reproducibility of the simulation, we fabricated the wire wound first-order and second-order gradiometers which measured a normal magnetic component to the chest surface. The baselines of the first-order gradiometers were, respectively, 50 mm, 70 mm and 100 mm and the baseline of the second-order gradiometer was 50 mm. Using these gradiometers, we recorded the MCG signal and compared the SNR between the simulation and the measurement.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.45-49
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• 2007

We have investigated the optimum combination of the environmental noise condition and type of SQUID pickup coil in order to obtain maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The measurement probe consists of 1st order gradiometer with pickup coils of 100 mm, 70 mm, and 50 mm baseline length, a 2nd order gradiometer with 50 mm baseline, and a magnetometer. The pickup coils are fabricated by winding Nb wire on a bobbin with 200 mm diameter. Noise and heart signal of a healthy male were measured by various SQUID sensors with different types of pickup coils in various magnetically shielded rooms (MSR), and compared to each other. The shielding factors were found to be 43 dB, 35 dB and 25 dB at 0.1 Hz for MSR-AS, MSR-BS, MSR-CS, respectively. White noises were $3.5\;fT/Hz^{1/2}$, $4.5\;fT/Hz^{1/2}$ and $3\;fT/Hz^{1/2}$ for the 1st order gradiometers, the 2nd order gradiometers, and magnetometer for all MSRs. SNR of the magnetometer was up to 56 dB in MSR-AS, while the 1st order axial gradiometer with 70 mm baseline length was up to 54 dB in MSR-BS. The 2nd order axial gradiometer with 50 mm baseline length of pickup coil was found to be up to 40 dB in MSR-CS.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.144-148
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• 2009

A current limiter was manufactured using a Josephson junction array to cut off an excessive current flowing into the SQUID sensor. The Fabricateed Josephson junction array was connected in series with a flux transformer that consists of a pick-up coil and an input coil, and the flux transformer was inductively coupled with a Double Relaxation Oscillation SQUID(DROS). The flux-voltage modulation curve was induced by applying an AC magnetic field whose magnitude was far smaller than that of the DC magnetic field. A change in the flux-voltage modulation curve of the SQUID was observed while the DC magnetic field was increased, to qualitatively examine the current limiting characteristic of the Josephson junction array. As a result, it was found that the SQUID flux-voltage modulation curve disappeared at the critical current of the Josephson junction array, which indicates that the Josephson junction array properly works as a current limiter.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.139-143
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• 2009

We have fabricated a low-noise 61-channel axial-type first-order gradiometer system for measuring fetal magnetocardiography(MCG) signals. Superconducting quantum interference device(SQUID) sensor was based on double relaxation oscillation SQUID(DROS) for detecting biomagnetic signal, such as MCG, magnetoencphalogram(MEG) and fetal-MCG. The SQUID sensor detected axial component of fetal MCG signal. The pickup coil of SQUID sensor was wound with 120 ${\mu}m$ NbTi wire on bobbin(20 mm diameter) and was a first-order gradiometer to reject the environment noise. The sensors have low white noise of 3 $fT/Hz^{1/2}$ at 100 Hz on average. The fetal MCG was measured from $24{\sim}36$ weeks fetus in a magnetically shielded room(MSR) with shielding factor of 35 dB at 0.1 Hz and 80 dB at 100 Hz(comparatively mild shielding). The MCG signal contained maternal and fetal MCG. Fetal MCG could be distinguished relatively easily from maternal MCG by using independent component analysis(ICA) filter. In addition, we could observe T peak as well as QRS wave, respectively. It will be useful in detecting fetal cardiac diseases.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.6-10
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• 2005

We have studied feasibility of single-layer second-order $high-T_c$ SQUID gradiometers in magnetocardiography. We have measured human cardiomagnetic signals using a short-baseline (5.8 mm) single-layer second-order YBCO gradiometer in partially shielded environments. The gradiometer has an overall size of $17.6\;mm{\times}6\;mm$ and contains three parallel-connected pickup coils which are directly coupled to a step-edge junction SQUID. The gradiometer showed an unshielded gradient noise of $0.84\;pT/cm^2/Hz^{1/2}$ at 1 Hz, which corresponds to an equivalent field noise of $280\;fT/Hz^{1/2}$. The balancing factor was $10^3$. Based on the same design rules as the short-baseline devices, we have studied fabrication of 30 mm-long baseline gradiometers. The devices had an overall size of $70.2\;mm{\times}10.6\;mm$ with each pickup coil of $10\;mm{\times}10\;mm$ in outer size. As Josephson elements we made two types of submicron bridges, which are variable thickness bridge (VTB) and constant thickness bridge (CTB), from $3\;{\mu}m-wide$ and 300 nm-thick YBCO lines with a thin layer of Au on top by using a focused ion beam (FIB) patterning method. VTB was 300 nm wide, 200 nm thick, 30 nm long with Au removed and CTB 100 nm wide and 30 nm long. In temperature-dependent critical currents, $I_c(T)$, VTB showed an nonmetallic barrier-type behavior and CTB an SNS behavior. We believe that those characteristics are ascribed to naturally formed grain boundaries crossing the bridges.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.98-104
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• 2004

We analyzed a noise-sensitivity profile of a specific SQUID sensor system for the localization of brain activity. The location of a neuromagnetic current source is estimated from the recording of spatially distributed SQUID sensors. According to the specific arrangement of the sensors, each site in the source space has different sensitivity, that is, the difference in the lead field vectors. Conversely, channel noises on each sensor will give a different amount of the estimation error to each of the source sites. e.g., a distant source site from the sensor system has a small lead-field vector in magnitude and low sensitivity. However, when we solve the inverse problem from the recorded sensor data, we use the inverse of the lead-field vector that is rather large, which results in an overestimated noise power on the site. Especially, the spatial sensitivity profile of a gradiometer system measuring tangential fields is much more complex than a radial magnetometer system. This is one of the causes to make the solutions of inverse problems unstable on intervening of the sensor noise. In this study, in order to improve the localization accuracy, we calculated the noise-sensitivity profile of our 40-channel planar SQUID gradiometer system, and applied it as a normalization weight factor to the source localization using synthetic aperture magnetometry.

• The Proceeding of the Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.38-43
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• 1993

A Hybrid Finite Element Method(HFEM) is applied to solve the electrormagnetic scattering from multi-layered dielectric cylinders. An unbounde region is divided into local boundary regions where a practical differential equation solution is obtained, with the remaining unbounded region represented by a boundary integral equation. If sources, media inhomogeneities, and anisotropies are local, a surgace may be defined to enclose them. Therefore the integral region so defined is bounded, and differential techniques may be used there. Also, in the re- maining unbounded region a boundary integral equation may be formulated using only a simple free - space green's function. Therefore, The local boundary is represented by a boundary - value problem with boundary conditions and solved by the finite element method. The advantage of the proposed method is simple and efficient in the work of electromagnetic scattering. The validity of the results have been verified by comparing results of other method(boundary element method). Examples has been presented to calculate the scattered fields of lossy dielectric cylinders of arbitray cross section.