Magnetocardiogram measured by fundamental mode orthogonal fluxgate array

Magnetocardiography (MCG) of healthy volunteers has been measured by using a fundamental mode orthogonal fluxgate magnetometer array of 32 channels in a magnetic shielded room (MSR). Sensor heads, which are employed, consist of a 45 mm long U-shaped amorphous wire core and a 1000-turn solenoid pick-up coil of 30 mm in length and 3 mm in outer diameter. The excitation current of 100 kHz with large dc bias current is fed directly into wire cores, which are connected in series, whereas the signal detection circuit is provided to each of the sensor heads. A special technique to avoid mutual interaction between sensor heads is implemented, where all the sensor heads are excited synchronously by using a single ac source. A 2-D array having 32 sensors with 4 cm grid spacing was used to measure MCG signals inside an MSR. Measured data from each channel were first filtered (0.16-100 Hz pass band), then averaged for 2 min synchronously with electrocardiogram's peaks taken from both hands. Noise remaining after the average is about 1.8 pTrms for the band-width of 0.16-100 Hz. The QRS complex and the T-wave are clearly detected.