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Science 25 June 1971:
Vol. 172. no. 3990, pp. 1329 - 1333
DOI: 10.1126/science.172.3990.1329
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Articles

Magnetocardiography of Direct Currents: S-T Segment and Baseline Shifts during Experimental Myocardial Infarction

David Cohen 1, J. C. Norman 2, F. Molokhia 2, and W. Hood Jr. 2

1 Francis Bitter National Magnet Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139
2 Thorndike Memorial and Sears Surgical Laboratories, Boston City Hospital, and Departments of Medicine and Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02130

Magnetocardiograms with a bandwidth of 0 to 40 hertz were recorded from intact dogs undergoing myocardial infarction. This was done with a superconducting magnetometer in a magnetically shielded room. The purpose was to look for the steady currents of injury from the heart which supposedly produce much of the S-T segment shifts during infarction. These heart currents cannot be measured with surface electrodes because of direct-current interference from other sources, such as from the contact potential between electrode and skin. The magnetocardiograms showed both S-T segment shifts and direct currents as a result of infarction. However, they also showed that the S-T segment shifts were not produced by the direct currents. It is unlikely that these direct currents originated from the infarcted area, and their exact origin is not yet known.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Ferromagnetic Contamination in the Lungs and Other Organs of the Human Body.
D. Cohen (1973)
Science 180, 745-748
   Abstract »    PDF »
Magnetoencephalography: Detection of the Brain's Electrical Activity with a Superconducting Magnetometer.
D. Cohen (1972)
Science 175, 664-666
   Abstract »    PDF »
Magnetocardiography.
D. COHEN and W. B. HOOD Jr. (1971)
Arch Surg 103, 429
   Abstract »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)