Abstract
The recording of magnetic fields associated with cellular current flow in nerve and muscle fibers was first reported nearly three and a half decades ago. These magnetic fields are detected using a room-temperature toroidal pickup coil called the neuromagnetic current probe. These probes can be employed to measure action currents of biological tissues while they are resting in their own natural settings or in saline baths, thereby reducing the risk associated with elevating and drying the tissues in the air during experiments. These magnetic fields are relatively insensitive to muscle movement since these probes are not directly connected to the tissues, and distortions of the recorded data due to changes in the electrochemical interface between the probes and the tissues are minimal. In this paper, the magnetic fields of single nerve axons, muscle fibers and nerve bundles are discussed. Furthermore, one of the possible applications of the neuromagnetic current probe to the intraoperative assessment of damaged nerve bundles is discussed.
Highlights
The original measurements of human Magnetocardiogram (MCG), the Magnetoencephalogram (MEG) and the Magnetomyogram clearly demonstrated the existence of the magnetic fields that are associated with ionic action currents in electrically active biological tissues [13]
The first successful measurement of compound action current associated with a nerve bundle using the magnetic technique was reported by the same research group in 1991 [26,27]
Taking their research effort to another level which was facilitated by the neuromagnetic current probe, Egeraat, et al [30] reported the first measurement of the magnetic field recorded from a single muscle fiber
Summary
The original measurements of human Magnetocardiogram (MCG), the Magnetoencephalogram (MEG) and the Magnetomyogram clearly demonstrated the existence of the magnetic fields that are associated with ionic action currents in electrically active biological tissues [13]. Over the last three and a half decades, a significant number of studies have been conducted to measure and analyze the magnetic signals created by ionic currents flowing in isolated nerve axons and muscle fibers. Active nerve and muscle fibers create propagating action potentials and magnetic fields.
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