A new type of SQUID gradiometer, a direct‐feedback gradiometer, is introduced in this paper. It is an axial gradiometer made of thin superconductive films. It consists of two magnetometers: a ‘‘cancellation magnetometer’’ and a ‘‘sensing magnetometer.’’ The feedback flux of the cancellation magnetometer is applied to both pickup coils of these magnetometers by connecting their feedback coils in a series. Environmental magnetic noise applied to the sensing magnetometer is cancelled by the magnetic flux measured by the cancellation magnetometer, when the two magnetometers are connected with normal conductive wires. The gradiometer has been fabricated and operated in a moderate magnetically shielded room. The capability to reduce environmental noise and thus to measure auditory evoked fields from the human brain has been confirmed. ©1994 American Institute of Physics.