Magnetocardiography and exercise testing: data acquisition and data processing

Sixteen healthy male subjects underwent magnetocardiography during physical exercise. A specific signal averaging technique was developed because the quality of the magnetic signals exceeded that of the electrocardiographic signals, particularly regarding baseline shifting. Significant ST segment displacements of the magnetic signal were found during exercise at a heart rate of 120 bpm (p<0.001). No significant ST segment changes were found in the electrocardiographic map, which consisted of an array of 16 precordial electrodes, simultaneously recorded. The hypothesis that junctional ST segment displacements can be detected earlier with the magnetocardiogram is discussed