Biomagnetism in 2004: Introduction

Abstract

Biomagnetism is the study of magnetic fields generated by living material. Biomagnetic recordings provide a non-invasive means for obtaining electrophysiological information from the human body. This special issue contains a collection of papers illustrating recent advances made in the area of biomagnetism. These articles are based on a subgroup of papers originally presented at Biomag 2004, the 14th International Conference on Biomagnetism, held in Boston in August 2004. The topics cover both biomagnetic methodology, including instrumentation, signal processing, and forward and inverse modeling, as well as applications in clinical and basic research, including magnetoencephalography (MEG), magnetocardiography (MCG), fetal studies,and studies of the lungs, liver and the gastrointestinal system.