A New Screening Method to Diagnose Coronary Artery Disease Using Multichannel Magnetocardiogram and Simple Exercise

Background: Magnetocardiography (MCG) is a non-contact mapping technique to record cardiac action currents. The Master's two-step electrocardiogram (ECG) test is a simple exercise method for screening coronary artery disease (CAD), but it is inadequate concerning the sensitivity. Our aim was to develop a new screening method using multichannel MCG instead of ECG.

Methods: Thirty subjects (aged 54 +/- 16 years, 27 males), 17 of whom had CAD confirmed by coronary angiography, underwent the Master's exercise ECG test. After the exercise, MCG signals were acquired every minute during recovery with a 64-channel MCG system (MC-6400, Hitachi Ltd). We integrated tangential components of the MCG signals within QRS (during 20, 40, 80, and 120 ms centering on R-wave peak) immediately after exercise (Iex) and 5 minutes after exercise (Irec). The exercise-induced change of currents [(Iex-Irec)/Irec] was determined and normalized for each channel, and the maximal change among 64 channels, maximal QRS integral change, was used as a diagnostic index for myocardial ischemia.

Results: The maximal QRS integral change during 40 ms was significantly higher in the CAD group than in the control group (0.81 +/- 0.51 vs. 0.36 +/- 0.19, p < 0.01). A sensitivity and specificity for predicting CAD by the change > 0.44 were 82 % and 85 %, respectively, yielding a diagnostic accuracy of 83 %. The conventional Master's ECG test identified the CAD patients with a diagnostic accuracy of 63 % (sensitivity 47 %, specificity 85 %).

Conclusion: The Master's two-step exercise test with a 64-channel MCG system showed the high diagnostic accuracy, despite of non-contact recording and simple exercise. The magnetic field in the depolarization process has the potential to detect the subtle myocardial ischemia induced by exercise.