[News] Heart Magnetics Breakthrough: China Professor Luo Jianfang’s Team Validates Clinical Value of Magnetocardiography in Functional Assessment

Recently, supported by the National Key R&D Program for Magnetocardiography (MCG) under China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, the team led by Professors Luo Jianfang and He Wenfei from Nanhai Hospital of Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital published a groundbreaking study in Frontiers in Medical Technology (Q2). Titled “Effectiveness of Magnetocardiography as a Non-Invasive Tool for Assessing Myocardial Ischemia in Patients with Stable Coronary Artery Disease,” this study marks the first international comparison of MCG with Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (CCTA) and CT-derived Fractional Flow Reserve (CT-FFR). It demonstrates MCG’s high specificity in the functional assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD), advancing its potential as a routine non-invasive diagnostic method.

Challenges in Risk Identification for Stable Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery disease (CAD) has been the leading global cause of mortality for the past decade, placing a significant burden on individual health and socio-economic systems. Identifying risk in patients with stable coronary artery disease (SCAD) is particularly challenging. Not all SCAD patients experience myocardial ischemia, and approximately 75% of those with ischemia lack typical angina symptoms, complicating early detection in asymptomatic individuals. Current functional cardiac assessment methods have limitations: Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR), the physiological gold standard for evaluating coronary stenosis severity, is invasive and costly, making it impractical for low-risk patients. Techniques such as stress echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) can assess myocardial ischemia but are complex, technically demanding, expensive, and, in some cases, involve radiation exposure.

Thus, there is a clinical need for a safe, convenient, non-invasive diagnostic method to enable early detection and precise diagnosis of SCAD, reducing potential risks. Magnetocardiography (MCG), an advanced cardiac imaging technology, offers high sensitivity, speed, non-invasiveness, and no radiation, making it a promising candidate.

MCG Demonstrates Clinical Value in Functional Assessment

This single-center, prospective, observational cohort study included 291 patients from a pool of 355 who underwent CCTA between April and December 2023, showing 30%–90% coronary artery diameter stenosis. All participants underwent MCG and CT-FFR analysis before any pharmacological or interventional treatment. Patients with CT-FFR ≤0.8 were classified as the SCAD group.

Clinical data showed that SCAD patients had an average MCG score of 5.6±2.9, significantly higher than the non-SCAD group’s 2.0±1.9 (P < 0.001). Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.824 (95% CI: 0.772–0.877) for MCG scoring in diagnosing SCAD, indicating strong discriminative ability. Diagnostic performance was impressive, with an accuracy of 82.1%, specificity of 87.9%, and negative predictive value (NPV) of 86.2%. These results strongly validate MCG’s significant value in non-invasively assessing myocardial ischemia.

This study is the first to apply MCG scoring for screening asymptomatic SCAD patients, using CCTA and CT-FFR as references. For patients with coronary stenosis detected by CCTA, MCG demonstrated high accuracy and specificity in identifying myocardial ischemia. Compared to CCTA-based structural stenosis assessment, MCG showed higher consistency (82.1%) with CT-FFR functional outcomes. This suggests MCG can complement CCTA and SPECT, providing functional ischemia evaluation before invasive coronary angiography, reducing misdiagnosis and unnecessary invasive procedures. MCG is applicable for ischemia screening, assessment, and prognostic monitoring, covering the full cycle of cardiac patient management and expanding its clinical utility.

Additionally, MCG-based diagnostics significantly reduce hospital stays, completing myocardial ischemia assessments in just 5–10 minutes, enhancing patient experience, satisfaction, and optimizing clinical workflows and resource utilization.

MCG Technology Enters Fast-Track Development

MCG instruments offer high signal fidelity and sensitivity to localized myocardial currents, providing inherent technical advantages. By precisely capturing spatial and temporal heart magnetic changes, MCG opens new horizons for functional ischemia assessment.

In recent years, advancements in quantum biomagnetic detection and AI technologies have garnered global clinical and industrial attention for MCG. It received U.S. FDA Breakthrough Device Designations in 2020 and 2023 and has been supported by China’s major national science and technology infrastructure and key R&D programs. In 2024, it was included in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s Guidelines for Promoting First-of-its-Kind Major Technical Equipment and recognized as one of the “Top Ten Advances of the Year” by the Chinese Medical Association’s Medical Engineering Branch.

MCG technologies primarily include Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) and Optically Pumped Magnetometer (OPM). SQUID offers high sensitivity (5 fT/Hz^1/2, 10^-15 T), a wide dynamic range (10 kHz bandwidth), and robust anti-interference capabilities for precise real-time signal analysis. OPM, an emerging technology, eliminates the need for liquid helium cooling, enhancing usability.

This study utilized the MANDI Ditin® High-Sensitivity MCG Instrument, based on SQUID technology, with a sensitivity of 5fT/Hz1/2 (10-15T) , 10 kHz bandwidth, and second-order gradient and eight-dimensional noise reduction for capturing ultra-weak cardiac magnetic signals. MANDI Medical, a spin-off from the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology (Chinese Academy of Sciences), is the only entity with both SQUID and OPM technologies, holding China’s first MCG and fetal MCG product registrations, leading globally in biomagnetic technology.

Research Team Introduction

In 2023, Nanhai Hospital of Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital became one of the first institutions in China to introduce magnetocardiography (MCG) equipment. Supported by the National Key R&D Program for Magnetocardiography under the 14th Five-Year Plan, the hospital established the first MCG Clinical Center in South China. This center integrates industry, academia, research, and clinical practice, aiming to enhance non-invasive diagnostic capabilities for cardiovascular diseases, provide superior medical services to patients, and establish a leading, high-standard modern medical center serving the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Outlook

With the publication of this study and the growing body of evidence-based medical data, MCG is paving a safer screening pathway for patients with chest pain. It complements technologies like coronary CTA and CT-FFR, significantly reducing misdiagnosis risks and unnecessary invasive procedures. Its applications are expanding from stable coronary artery disease (SCAD) assessment to refined post-intervention management, gradually forming a closed-loop ecosystem for non-invasive functional evaluation across the full cycle of CAD. This demonstrates MCG’s vast potential for future clinical applications.

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Luo Jianfang

Title:

Chief Physician, Doctoral Supervisor, FACC, FESC, FSCAI, “National Renowned Doctor”

President, Nanhai Hospital of Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital

Director, Heart Valve Disease Intervention Center, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital

Director, Vascular Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital

Academic Appointments:

• Executive Member, Cardiovascular Medicine Branch, Chinese Medical Doctor Association

• Executive Member, Cardiovascular Medicine Branch, Guangdong Medical Doctor Association

• Chairman, Cardiovascular Intervention Branch, Guangdong Medical Doctor Association

• Executive Chairman, Vascular Multidisciplinary Team Forum (VMDT) and Lingnan Valve Conference

• Executive Chairman, Asia-Pacific CTO Club Guangzhou Summit

• Secretary-General, Asian Society of Cardiology Annual Meeting

Research Achievements:

• 1 First Prize, Guangdong Science and Technology Invention Award

• 1 Second Prize, China Medical Education Association Science and Technology Award

• 2 Second Prizes and 2 Third Prizes, Guangdong Science and Technology Award

• Co-authored 6 academic monographs, holds multiple invention patents, and published over 100 academic papers

• Led multiple national and provincial research projects, mentored over 20 master’s and doctoral students

  
  

He Wenfei

Title:

Associate Chief Physician, MD

Secretary, Cardiovascular Party Branch, Nanhai Hospital of Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital

Deputy Director, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine

Academic Appointments:

• Member and Secretary, Imaging Group, Cardiovascular Medicine Branch, Guangdong Medical Association

• Member, Cardiovascular Medicine Branch, Guangdong Medical Doctor Association

• Vice Chairman, Pan-Vascular Disease Committee, Guangdong Medical Education Association

• Executive Member, Guangdong Cardiovascular Metabolism Alliance

• Member, Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Co-Treatment Committee, Guangdong Traditional Medicine Association

Research Achievements:

• 1 Second Prize, Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award

• 1 Second Prize, Guangdong Science and Technology Progress Award

• 1 Utility Model Patent

• Led and participated in multiple national and provincial research projects, published over 10 papers in professional journals (8 indexed in SCI, total impact factor over 30)

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The advancements in magnetocardiography (MCG) highlighted in this study underscore the transformative potential of non-invasive diagnostics for coronary artery disease, offering hope for safer and more accessible cardiac care worldwide.

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