The sensing of magnetic fields has important applications in medicine, particularly to the sensing of signals in the heart and brain. The fields associated with biomagnetism are exceptionally weak, being many orders of magnitude smaller than the Earths magnetic field. To measure them requires that we use the most sensitive detection techniques, however, to be commercially viable this must be done at an affordable cost. The current state of the art uses costly SQUID magnetometers, although they will likely be superseded by less costly, but otherwise limited, alkali vapour magnetometers. Here, we discuss the application of diamond magnetometers to medical applications. Diamond magnetometers are robust, solid state devices that work in a broad range of environments, with the potential for sensitivity comparable to the leading technologies.
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