Future topics in fetal magnetocardiography

Since the first fetal magnetocardiogram was demonstrated by Kariniemi in 1974 [1], various groups worldwide have explored potential of investigating fetal cardiac activity using biomagnetic sensing systems and have examined the issues involved (for an overview, see [2]). In the past 25 years, fetal magnetocardiograms (FMCG) have been recorded in healthy fetuses as well as in pregnancies involving various pathologies. Some groups have worked on the development of appropriate instrumentation for fetal applications or have modeled fetoabdominal volume conduction. The purpose of this paper is to review the status of fetal magnetocardiography today and to delineate the topics with which we will be preoccupied in the future. The following subjects will be discussed: instrumentation, modeling, data acquisition and analysis in healthy pregnancies, clinical applications and software.