The SAR distributions over a homogeneous human model exposed to a near field of a short electric dipole in the resonant frequency region were calculated with the spatial resolution of 1cm3 which approximated 1g tissue by using the FDTD method with the expansion technique. The dependences of the SAR distribution on the distance between the model and the source and on frequency were investigated. It was shown that the large local SAR appeared in the parts of the body nearest to the source when the source was located at 20cm from the body, whereas the local SAR were largest in the narrow sections such as the neck and legs when the source was farther than 80cm from the model. It was also shown that, for the near-field exposure in the resonant frequency region, the profile of the layer averaged SAR distribution along the main axis of the body of the human model depended little on frequency, and that the SAR distribution in the section perpendicular to the main axis of the human body depended on frequency. The maximum local SAR per gram tissue over the whole body model was also determined, showing that the ratios of the maximum local SAR to the whole-body averaged SAR for the near-field exposure were at most several times as large as the corresponding ratio for the far-field exposure, when the small source located farther than 20cm from the surface of the human model.

Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) analysis is performed to evaluate the distributions of specific absorption rate (SAR) in a human head during use of a handheld portable telephone. A heterogeneous head model has been assumed which is comprised of 273 108 cubic cells 2.5 mm on a side, with the electrical properties of anatomical equivalents. A handset model has been assumed to be a metal box with either a quarter-wavelength monopole or a half-wavelength dipole operating at 900 MHz or 1.5 GHz. The maximum local SARs in the head are evaluated under various exposure conditions. The dependence of the maximum local SARs on the difference in the structures or parameters of the model, i.e. the distance between the antenna and the head, the heterogeneity of the head, the antenna type, the volume of the smoothing region of the local SAR value, skin electrical constants, and the presence or absence of auricles, are examined. It is shown that the heterogeneity of the head barely affect the maximum local SAR when the telephone is located sufficiently close to the head. It is also shown that the electrical constants of skin which has lower conductivity provide the lower maximum local SAR in the head while the maximum local SAR within the brain is not significantly affected. The auricle which lies in closest proximity to the antenna is shown to have significant effect on the maximum local SAR. It is suggested that the presence of the auricle enhances the maximum local SAR by a factor that is 1.7-2.4 larger than the model without auricles.