◾ Introduction

Biomagnetics is an interdisciplinary field where magnetics, biology, and medicine overlap. Biomagnetics is also called biomagnetism, which is often used in medicine and biology. In this book, however, biomagnetics

CONTENTS 1.1 History of Biomagnetics 1

1.1.1 From Gilbert (1600) to d’Arsonval (1896) 1 1.1.2 Modern Biomagnetics in the 1970s and 1980s 4

1.2 Biomagnetic Phenomena and Medical Applications 7 1.2.1 Biomagnetic Phenomena at Different Intensities

and Their Frequencies 7 1.2.2 Biomagnetic Measurements of Magnetic Fields

Produced by Living Systems 8 1.2.3 Biomagnetic Stimulation and Magnetic Treatments 9 1.2.4 Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Living System 10 1.2.5 Magnetic Control of Cell Manipulation, Cell

Orientation, and Cell Growth 11 1.2.6 Biological Interactions of ELF, Pulsed, and RF

Magnetic Fields 12 1.3 Fundamental Bases for Understanding Biomagnetic Phenomena 12

1.3.1 Electromagnetic Induction in Living Tissues 12 1.3.2 Magnetism of Living Systems and Materials 14

1.4 Summary 16 References 16

and biomagnetism are used interchangeably. Biomagnetics has a long history, beginning in 1600 when William Gilbert (1544-1603) published his groundbreaking book De Magnete.1 In it, he stated that the Earth is itself a huge magnet (Figure 1.1). Gilbert’s illustration describes that the origin of Earth’s magnetic fields should exist inside the Earth. He also noted the relationship between magnetism and human life:

Magnetic force is animate or imitates life; and in many things surpasses human life, while this is bound up in the organic body

WILLIAM GILBERT, 1600

FIGURE 1.1 William Gilbert (1544-1603) and the Earth.