Magnetometry for Early Detection of Intestinal Ischemia

Intestinal ischemia is difficult to diagnose and usually fatal. By the time signs of peritonitis,acidosis and shock appear, survival is rare. The mortality rate of bowel infarction remains at about 90%today despite improvements in surgical technique and supportive care. The key to reducing thismortality rate is early and accurate diagnosis, preferably by a simple non-invasive procedure that couldbe used in the emergency room. Recent animal studies have shown that the intestinal tract is highlysensitive to arterial blood supply. The changes in magnetic activity that result from ischemia happenwithin minutes and are quite large. Preliminary measurements have also been made to show thefeasibility of measuring the biomagnetic signal from human intestines. The signals are large and can beeasily measured using a high sensitivity superconducting magnetometer. We will develop the instrumentand measurement protocols necessary to turn this interesting phenomenon into a clinically usefultechnique. If successful, it will provide a rapid diagnosis of intestinal ischemia and other intestinaldisorders which strongly affect thenormal biomagnetic signals.