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. 2018 Jan 19;13(1):e0191241.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0191241. eCollection 2018.

A portable prototype magnetometer to differentiate ischemic and non-ischemic heart disease in patients with chest pain

Shima Ghasemi-Roudsari  1 , Abbas Al-Shimary  1 , Benjamin Varcoe  1 , Rowena Byrom  2 , Lorraine Kearney  2 , Mark Kearney  2
Affiliations

A portable prototype magnetometer to differentiate ischemic and non-ischemic heart disease in patients with chest pain

Shima Ghasemi-Roudsari et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Magnetocardiography (MCG) is a non-invasive technique used to measure and map cardiac magnetic fields. We describe the predictive performance of a portable prototype magnetometer designed for use in acute and routine clinical settings. We assessed the predictive ability of the measurements derived from the magnetometer for the ruling-out of healthy subjects and patients whose chest pain has a non-ischemic origin from those with ischemic heart disease (IHD).

Methods: MCG data were analyzed from a technical performance study, a pilot clinical study, and a young healthy reference group. Participants were grouped to enable differentiation of those with IHD versus non-IHD versus controls: Group A (70 IHD patients); Group B (69 controls); Group C (37 young healthy volunteers). Scans were recorded in an unshielded room. Between-group differences were explored using analysis of variance. The ability of 10 candidate MCG predictors to predict normal/abnormal cases was analyzed using logistic regression. Predictive performance was internally validated using repeated five-fold cross-validation.

Results: Three MCG predictors showed a significant difference between patients and age-matched controls (P<0.001); eight predictors showed a significant difference between patients and young healthy volunteers (P<0.001). Logistic regression comparing patients with controls yielded a specificity of 35.0%, sensitivity of 95.4%, and negative predictive value for the ruling-out of IHD of 97.8% (area under the curve 0.78).

Conclusion: This analysis represents a preliminary indication that the portable magnetometer can help rule-out healthy subjects and patients whose chest pain has a non-ischemic origin from those with IHD.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: S. Ghasemi-Roudsari and A. Al-Shimary are employees of Creavo Medical Technologies Ltd., United Kingdom (but not at the time the research was conducted); B. Varcoe is a shareholder of Creavo Medical Technologies Ltd., United Kingdom. R. Byrom, L. Kearney, and M. Kearney have no conflicts of interest to disclose. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. CONSORT Diagram: Technical performance study.
Participant flow through the technical performance study. Data were analyzed for 55/63 patients and 51/60 healthy controls.
Fig 2
Fig 2. CONSORT Diagram: Pilot clinical study.
Participant flow through the pilot clinical study. Data were analyzed for 15/21 patients and 18/21 healthy controls.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Histogram of the RS_peak predictors.
A representative histogram of the RS_peak predictors for study participants enrolled in Group A, Group B, and Group C.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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