Myocardial deformation imaging is a very attractive clinical tool for the assessment of right ventricular (RV) systolic performance, providing incremental diagnostic and prognostic information over the traditional indices of RV function. Among various imaging modalities, echocardiography is currently the method of choice for clinical assessment of RV longitudinal strain (RVLS). The methodology of 2D speckle-tracking echocardiography to obtain RVLS has been recently standardized and demonstrated to be feasible, accurate, and robust for clinical use. Inter-technique and inter-vendor comparability and reliability of RVLS are improving. RVLS is advantageous because it is more sensitive to subtle changes in myocardial function than conventional parameters used to assess RV function (i.e. tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, tissue Doppler systolic velocity, fractional area change, or RV ejection fraction) representing a sensitive tool for the long-term follow-up of patients. Proper interpretation of measurements requires a deep understanding of RV mechanics and pathologic tissue characteristics in different cardiovascular conditions, as well as the influence of loading conditions, image properties, and tracking algorithms on RVLS measurements.

During the last decades, the development of increasingly sensitive magnetic sensors led to numerous applications of magnetic field measurements in neuro-science, medical diagnostics, brain-computer interfaces, metrology or for experiments testing the fundamental laws of nature. Especially the development of small, lightweight, rather mobile and easy to handle optically pumped magnetometers allows for more advanced and dynamic studies of e.g. the brain. The limitation for the quality of such magnetic signals are gradients and drifts in the measuring environment. Our presented work combines the result of many years of work, resulting in calculations to quantitatively predict the areas with ultra-low magnetic fields inside passive magnetic shields, as well as the experimental confirmation. The calculation shows that a conventional three-layer chamber with an improved degaussing system will already provide environmental conditions never reached before. In the most recent implementation an unprecedented residual field of < 130 pT was repeatedly achieved over 0.5 m x 0.5 m x 0.5 m inside an easily accessible space, consistent with the numerical modeling.

Very low residual magnetic field and field gradients are essential for a number of high resolution fundamental physical experiments and for further improvement of very sensitive magnetic measurement devices. The scope ranges from spin precession experiments, e.g. with 3He or neutrons, to biomagnetic measurements, like magnetoencephalograms, and to low field MR spectroscopy. One method of reducing environmental magnetic noise is to use a magnetically shielded room (MSR). Here, measures are demonstrated to improve residual field and field gradient inside a common MSR by a factor of more than 10 by a specific degaussing procedure, material selection of prefabricated parts and active shielding. The process is independent of the shielding factor and works also properly for heavily shielded rooms.

Ultra-low magnetic field sensing is rapidly emerging as a technology in various applications, providing a non-invasive and instantaneous method of data acquisition. The increasing availability of improved or innovative types of magnetometers promotes the need for a benchmark metric. This contribution focuses on the evaluation of single magnetometer devices that detect magnetic fields in the femtotesla range and are usually used in a magnetically shielded environment. For assessment, a Device Alignment Actuator system is presented that enables an accurate 3D alignment of the Device Under Test around a single point within a known, homogeneous magnetic test field inside the highly magnetically shielded room, called BMSR-2.1 at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt Berlin, Germany. The defined benchmark metric includes several key parameters, such as frequency response, amplitude stability, frequency stability, and directivity, to name just a few. These parameters are introduced by using different commercial state-of-the-art optically pumped magnetometers (SERF-OPMs) and compared to the reference system based on superconducting quantum interference devices, which remain the gold standard in magnetometry. This approach ensures consistent evaluation across different magnetometer types, provided they operate at room temperature and fit within the evaluation platform. The platform can also be adapted for multi-channel magnetometer systems.

The Axion Resonant Interaction Detection Experiment (ARIADNE) is a nuclear-magnetic-resonance-based experiment that will search for novel axion-induced spin-dependent interactions between an unpolarized source mass rotor and spin-polarized ${}^3\mathrm{He}$ nuclei placed nearby. To detect a feeble axion-mediated signal at the subattotesla level, the experiment relies on ultralow magnetic background and noise. We measure and characterize the magnetic field from a prototype tungsten rotor. We show that the field is dominantly caused by a few discrete magnetic dipoles, likely due to impurities in the rotor. This is done via a numerical optimization pipeline which fits for the locations and magnetic moments of each dipole. We find that under the current demagnetization procedure, the magnetic moment of the impurities is bounded at ${10}^{-9}$ A ${\mathrm{m}}^2$. We further show that a shielding factor of ${10}^9$ will support ARIADNE's design sensitivity with the current level of tungsten purity and demagnetization process.

The magnetic field inside a spherical magnetic shield with infinite permeability and a circular aperture in a homogeneous magnetic field of arbitrary direction is analytically derived. The closed-form formulas for the static shielding factors are theoretical upper limits for real shields. We discuss the magnetic field gradient inside the shield caused by a single aperture, implying that using symmetric aperture pairs is more favorable. Based on the theoretical results for ideal shields, an approximate solution to calculate the shielding factor for shields with finite permeability and/or multiple apertures is proposed. The calculations for one aperture pair are compared to finite element analysis. The found basic effects could be guidance for the design of apertures in shields of various shapes