Graduate School in Nonlinear Science

Sponsored by the Danish Research Academy





MIDIT                               OFD                           CATS
Modelling, Nonlinear Dynamics       Optics and Fluid Dynamics     Chaos and Turbulence Studies
and Irreversible Thermodynamics     Risø National Laboratory      Niels Bohr Institute and 
Technical University of Denmark     Building 128                  Department of Chemistry
Building 321                        P.O. Box 49                   University of Copenhagen 
DK-2800 Lyngby                      DK-4000 Roskilde              DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø
Denmark                             Denmark                       Denmark


BIOMAGNETIC MEASUREMENTS OF ACTIVITY IN PERIPHERAL NERVES
- ON THE ELECTRIFICATION OF HUMANS TO FIND OUT WETHER THEY WORK OR NOT


by Morten Nordahn
NKT Research Center
Brøndby, Denmark



Monday April 19, 1999, 15:15 - 15:45 h
at MIDIT, IMM Building 305, room 027


Abstract: As a part of the mechanism behind the propagating compound action potential in peripheral nerves, ionic currents induce a weak magnetic field (less than 200 fT at the surface of the skin), which can be measured by highly sensitive devices. A non-invasive measuring technique offers a promising alternative to the existing highly invasive techniques used in Danish hospitals today, which measure the bioelectric fields generated by the propagating action potential by use of painful needle electrodes. In this talk, a brief introduction to the generation of biomagnetic fields in peripheral nerves will is given. Furthermore, biomagnetic measurements on human peripheral nerves will be presented. The measurements have been carried out using a low-temperature, low-noise, 49-channel SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Device) sensor array system. Methods of extracting the weak signal are introduced, and the results are discussed.