Biomagnetism

Biomagnetism involves the investigation of bioelectric processes as reflected by their accompanying magnetic fields. These processes can be monitored in the brain, heart, peripheral nerve or gastrointestinal tract. SQUID technology can also be used for biosusceptometry in lung, liver and intestines. Biomagnetism also includes theoretical issues as encountered in the inverse problem, modelling, fundamentals, physics and mathematics of the method, technical applications and instrumentation, as well as future aspects.

40th anniversary of "medical uses of SQUID" th It is my great pleasure and honor to invite you to the 17 International Conference on Biomagnetism – Biomag2010 held in Dubrovnik, Croatia from Sunday, March 28 through Thursday, April 1, 2010. The interdisciplinary field of biomagnetism includes dynamic and evolving SQUID-based technologies offering advanced real-time methods for noninvasive assessments of magnetic signals from the brain, heart and other organs as well as a range of modeling, mathematical and computational methods for functional source localization approaches. Excellent spatial resolution and unique, millisecond, temporal resolution of biomagnetic techniques allow insights into cortical neurodynamics and neurobiological basis of the human brain as well as assessment of heart and other organs functions in health and disease. Biomag2010 will be a great opportunity for an exchange of ideas and presentation of the latest developments in instrumentation, modeling approaches, basic and clinical biomedical studies. We are particularly proud to announce the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the first SQUID-based MCG measurements published on April 1, 1970. Since then ''medical uses of SQUID'' were dynamic and growing, including the most recent developments, in combination with a low field MRI, toward a ''direct neuronal imaging''. Dubrovnik, the host city of the Biomag2010, a jewel on the Adriatic, will be a superb and stimulating setting for both scientific and social aspects of this meeting. I am looking forward to hosting you in Dubrovnik, Croatia in spring of 2010.

Biomagnetism is the study of magnetic fields that originate in biological systems. This is a relatively new discipline that has attracted considerable interest throughout the scientific commu- ty. The study of biomagnetic fields requires the use of techniques and concepts drawn from widely disparate scientific disciplines. To make these techniques and concepts available to a wide spectrum of the scientific community, a NATO Advanced study Institute on B- magnetism was held near Frascati at Grottaferrata, Italy, in S- tember 1982. This volume is based on the lectures delivered by scholars representing many different scientific areas, ranging from solid state physics to psychology. It attempts to preserve the - herent development of concepts drawn from physiology, psychology, biology, physics, medicine, occupational health and geology that was evident during the Institute. The reader will quickly become aware that the progress in biomagnetism over the past decade was due principally to the efforts of interdisciplinary teams of sci- tists. One of the purposes of this volume is to make all of the basic principles and findings of biomagnetism available in one place, so that scientists who have already embarked on the study of biomagnetism or who plan to do so in the near future will have them available for study and reference. Each section of this volume was written by a recognized expert who lectured at the Institute on the topics he describes here.

BIOMAGNETISM: The studies of the effect of Magnetic Fields on living tissues and organs in the human body. By Dr. Douglas M. Baker and G. W. de la Warr. Before this writing, the absence of repeatable physiological effects relegated any possible curative properties of magnets to the practice of complete charlatanry. Experimentation in the field of biomagnetism has tended to be somewhat haphazard with little idea of ultimate aim. The work that has been carried out on human subjects has been directed mainly to the observation of possible effects of magnetic fields rather than to obtaining specific results. In our own work, which forms the subject of this book, we set out with a definite purpose in view and have accordingly adapted our research technique to that end. As a result we can now postulate that all human tissues may respond to some sort of magnetic influence, complex, subtle or powerful though it may have to be. Our object was to show that by the application of magnetic fields to the human body it was possible to obtain response from tissues in proximity to and distant from the fields. These tissues might or might not themselves demonstrate the effects directly, but they might well contribute to a systemic or bodily response of physiological significance. Many independent laboratory results, charts, pictures and construction drawings included here will aid your understanding and personal application of the knowledge gained by these eminent researchers at the Delawarr Laboratories, Oxford, England.

Topics include studies of the brain, heart, liver, lungs, muscle, tissue in vitro, advances in instrumentation, development of theory, and related subjects. Three major advances are revealed: newly developed large arrays of magnetic sensors which can sample simultaneously a field pattern from many

Many vital medical techniques are based on fundamental bioelectric and biomagnetic phenomena-electrocardiographs and cardiac pacemakers are two examples. This book examines the fundamental science underlying these techniques.

The mystery of how migrating animals find their way over unfamiliar terrain has intrigued people for centuries, and has been the focus of productive research in the biological sci ences for several decades. Whether or not the earth's magnetic field had anything to do with their navigational abilities has sufaced and been dismissed several times, beginning at least in the mid to late 1800s. This topic generally remained out of the mainstream of scientific research for two reasons: (1) The apparent irreproducibility of many of the be havioral experiments which were supposed to demonstrate the existence of the magnetic sense; and (2) Perceived theoretical difficulties which were encountered when biophysi cists tried to understand how such a sensory system might operate. However, during the mid to late 1960s as the science of ethology (animal behavior) grew, it became clear from studies on bees and birds that the geomagnetic field is used under a variety of conditions. As more and more organisms were found to have similar abilities, the problem shifted back to the question as to the basis of this perception. Of the various schemes for trans ducing the geomagnetic field to the nervous system which have been proposed, the hy pothesis of magnetite-based magnetoreception discussed at length in this volume has per haps the best potential for explaining a wide range of these effects, even though this link is as yet clear only in the case of magnetotactic bacteria.

This publication comprises papers presented at the above mentioned conference which was attended by approximately 400 participants from more than 30 countries. Of the total number of invited lectures and contributed papers presented, a selection of 139 manuscripts are included in this book. The majority of the papers presented at this conference were devoted to neuromagnetism, cardiomagnetism and biosusceptometry. A summarized version of the contents is provided hereunder.