Fetal magnetocardiography: clinical relevance and feasibility

We investigated the feasibility of a high-T-c SQUID system for fetal magnetocardiography (fetal MCG) aiming at a system without a magnetically shielded room and cooled by a cryocooler. The targeted SQUID resolution was 50 fT/rootHz (1-100 Hz). The research was performed along three lines: environmental noise suppression. cooling and low-T-c experiments. Environmental noise can be suppressed by forming second-order gradiometers from individual magnetometers. Concerning cooling. we investigated the applicability of commercially available coolers, In the low-T-c experiments the medical relevance of fetal MCG was clearly shown. However. they also indicated that, in order to fully exploit the medical potential. the targeted resolution has to be 10 fT/rootHz. This increased resolution, in combination with the required high reliability of the sensors. will be hard to realize in high-T-c technology. This paper describes the results of the project and discusses the feasibility of a clinical system. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B,V. All rights reserved.