Revisiting the Fetal Magnetocardiogram and Fetal Magnetoencephalogram

The first studies of fetal neuromagnetism and fetal cardiomagnetism were published more than ten and twenty years ago, respectively [1,2]. Despite considerable interest generated by these reports, relatively few follow-up studies appeared. In retrospect, this is somewhat surprising given that 1) in several respects, magnetic detection is almost uniquely suited to intrauterine evaluation, and 2) there is a paucity of alternate fetal evaluation techniques that provide functional information. During the last few years, interest in fetal biomagnetism has reemerged, as a number of groups have reported findings at meetings and in the literature. This paper presents fetal MCG and fetal MEG studies performed recently by our group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.