Noninvasive Functional Localization by Biomagnetic Methods

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Abstract
External biomagnetic measurements can be used to obtain functional information concerning the electrical activity of various organs, e.g. the human heart and brain. These methods are completely noninvasive, and they have turned out to be promising in localizing bioelectric sources in the body. During the last few years, the number of localization studies reported has increased rapidly. Although the methods are not yet clinically accepted, possible clinical applications are numerous; for example, the localization of various cortical sources and epileptic foci in the brain, as well as the localization of sources of life-threatening arrhythmias in the heart. The best localization accuracies reported in brain studies are of the order of a few millimeters, and in heart studies, about 1–2 centimeters. Part I of this paper describes the generation of biomagnetic fields in living tissue and presents the basic theory of source localization. The most popular models used in various localization studies are presented, and applications are presented. Part II will deal with realistic digital torso and head models, validation of the localization results, and instrumentation.

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