Non-contact heart and lung activity monitoring would be a desirable supplement to conventional monitoring techniques. Based on the potential of non-contact magnetic induction measurements, requirements for an adequate monitoring system were estimated. This formed the basis for the development of the presented extendable multichannel simultaneous magnetic induction measurement system (MUSIMITOS). Special focus was given to the dynamic behaviour and simultaneous multichannel measurements, so that the system allows for up to 14 receiver coils working simultaneously at 6 excitation frequencies. Moreover, a real-time software concept for online signal processing visualization in combination with a fast software demodulation is presented. Finally, first steps towards a clinical application are pointed out and technical performance as well as first in vivo measurements are presented. This paper covers some aspects previously presented in Steffen and Leonhardt (2007 Proc. 13th Int. Conf. on Electrical Bioimpedance and the 8th Conf. on Electrical Impedance Tomography, Graz 2007).