Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory have been busy studying squid magnetronomy.  SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Device) is the most sensitive known detector of magnetic flux, a sensitivity which is extremely handy for medical diagnostics.  SQUID represents the confluence of three distinct technologies: nanotech, quantum mechanics and superconductivity.  By using SQUID, cancer specialists can detect tumors that are so tiny that they can go undetected by the best currently available imaging solutions. 

In other words, this is a novel way to acquire chemical information with magnetic fields a million times weaker than those used in typical NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) and its near relative MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging).

In the medical area, SQUID can be used for iron measurement, given that iron is the most important trace element in human metabolism.  A change in the amount of body iron can be very relevant, since it can potentially indicate a disease.  This is why many methods for determining the total body iron content have been developed.

The advantages of SQUID over NMR are that the required magnetic fields are much smaller and that SQUID has a much greater sensitivity.  This allows SQUID to be used not only in cancer detection, but also brain function and diagnosis of epilepsy, stroke and mental illness.