MEG and MCG in a clinical environment: BioMag Laboratory, Helsinki

The success of biomagnetism will critically depend on how useful the technique is as a clinical tool and what kinds of applications exist. We have started work at the new BioMag Laboratory of the Helsinki University Central Hospital to bring this technology clinically available and to evaluate its possibilities. The project follows extensive development and pioneering work for over two decades at the Helsinki University of Technology in neuromagnetism [1] and cardiomagnetism [2] done in collaboration with the Helsinki University Central Hospital. While some clinical applications already have been established [1–4] and we are actively working on them, much of our research is conducted on various patient groups and healthy subjects in order to evaluate and assess this new technology and to extend our knowledge of the functioning of the brain and the heart.