title: Vortex shaped current sources in a physical torso phantom.
abstract: Recent studies reported differential information in human magnetocardiogram and in electrocardiogram. Vortex currents have been discussed as a possible source of this divergence. With the help of physical phantom experiments, we quantified the influence of active vortex currents on the strength of electric and magnetic signals, and we tested the ability of standard source localization algorithms to reconstruct vortex currents. The active vortex currents were modeled by a set of twelve single current dipoles arranged in a circle and mounted inside a phantom that resembles a human torso. Magnetic and electric data were recorded simultaneously while the dipoles were switched on stepwise one after the other. The magnetic signal strength increased continuously for an increasing number of dipoles switched on. The electric signal strength increased up to a semicircle and decreased thereafter. Source reconstruction with unconstrained focal source models performed well for a single dipole only (less than 3-mm localization error). Minimum norm source reconstruction yielded reasonable results only for a few of the dipole configurations. In conclusion active vortex currents might explain, at least in part, the difference between magnetically and electrically acquired data, but improved source models are required for their reconstruction.
authors.affiliation: Biomagnetic Center, Department of Neurology, University Hospital at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany. Mario.Liehr@uni-jena.de
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liehr
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Haueisen
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goernig
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Seidel
authors.forename: Jukka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nenonen
authors.forename: Toivo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katila
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D018780:Body Surface Potential Mapping / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008280:Magnetics; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013909:Thorax / Q000502:physiology