title: Magnetometry of evoked fields from human peripheral nerve, brachial plexus and primary somatosensory cortex using a liquid nitrogen cooled superconducting quantum interference device.
abstract: Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs) can be used to detect neuromagnetic fields evoked in the peripheral and central nervous system. Up to now, such measurements had to be based on SQUIDs with a low critical temperature (Tc) requiring liquid helium cooling. Recent improvements in high-Tc SQUID technology relying on liquid nitrogen cooling led to a significant reduction in the system's noise level. Hare, first high-Tc recordings of weak neuromagnetic fields are demonstrated. In particular, along the entire somatosensory afferent pathway including peripheral nerves, brachial plexus and primary somatosensory neocortex evoked neuromagnetic activities were detected using conventional recording parameters for bandwidth and number of averages. This opens up a wide perspective for cost-effective high-Tc magnetometry in clinical neuroscience.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Klinikum Benjamin Franklin, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. curio@zedat.fu-berlin.de
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Curio
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Drung
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Steinhoff
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Trahms
authors.forename: Y Q
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vase
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Freltoft
mesh_terms: D001917:Brachial Plexus / Q000502:physiology*; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008280:Magnetics; D009584:Nitrogen; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000502:physiology*; D011789:Quantum Theory; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D009584:Nitrogen