Magnetism in Medicine: A Handbook

The intended purpose of this book, as outlined in the preface, is to enable physicians, scientists and engineers to acquaint themselves with the application of magnetism in medicine in order that the field may be advanced. To this end 'state of the art' articles (covering biomagnetism, cardiomagnetism, neuromagnetism, magnetic stimulation, liver-iron susceptometry, magnetic resonance, magnetopneumography, magnetic hypothermia, magnetic wound treatment and cell separation) have been contributed by several authors which, in the main, address areas of research and possible applications in medicine, apart from magnetic resonance imaging where the diagnostic potential is already established. This book, therefore, is essentially a reference source (comprising some 500 pages of which approximately 70 are devoted to references) and I doubt will find its way onto many individuals' bookshelves, but would be a useful addition to library collections. The source of references is very valuable and the introductions to some of the key areas of development in this interesting field are well described. Since this book is intended for a wide audience, the section on basic physical principles (with regard to magnetism) is quite difficult to follow even though we are urged to skip the detail if we just want to see the results—it is in the detail that Maxwell's equations are best understood. This and other theory sections do not act as primers for the average reader. Mere reference to Stokes' theorem, the Poisson equation, vector potential, etc. without explanation is confusing to the reader. In addition, most of this section is not used in the rest of the book and thus sits oddly amongst the more practically detailed contributions concerning current applications. This is also true of the section concerned with magnetic resonance where some aspects are dealt with in apparent detail, e.g. signal-to-noise ratio and resolution, but would leave the uninformed reader at a loss with regard to an overview of the subject. (Even at the fundamental level, Larmor precession is curiously introduced.) The section introducing k -space is particularly brief and I would guess most readers would look elsewhere for more information. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a particularly rich area for research, and is possibly more important in the context of this book than MRI; however only two pages are devoted to theory and sixteen pages to applications. Other areas, e.g. neuromagnetism, are discussed with up to ten times more material and magnetic stimulation double the amount. Even though the editors attempt to justify the use of a mixture of c.g.s. and SI units, this is not acceptable in a modern text, except perhaps in the excellent first section covering a historical overview. The sections dealing with applications, e.g. cardiomagnetism, neuromagnetism, gastroenterology, etc, form excellent overviews and will be valuable to the specialist and newcomer to the field. Links between the use of common technology and clinical applications are not given in the book (e.g. combining technologies): this could have been included, but the reader is able with hindsight to make the necessary connections. (The Conclusions and Perspectives chapter (four pages) begins to address these important issues.) All the specialists, in their particular areas, have given excellent accounts of the instrumentation challenges and the clinical disorders they are directed towards; in this way the text gives a good overview of some of the key areas where magnetism might be used in medicine both in diagnosis and treatment. W Vennart Department of Physics University of Exeter Exeter EX4 6ES UK