Basics of neuromagnetic imaging: A potential new modality for functional brain imaging

The human brain produces a measurable magnetic field in response to specific stimuli. This magnetic field, called the neuromagnetic field, can be localized to regions of the brain that actively process the stimulus. Reconstruction of functional brain images from the neuromagnetic field, a process that the authors call neuromagnetic imaging, represents a new non-invasive modality dependent upon brain structure and activity. The basics of neuromagnetic imaging including problems inherent to this approach, models invoked to solve some of the problems, computer simulation studies and preliminary experimental results obtained with a line source are presented