The peak SAR values of two-element array antennas for mobile handsets in the vicinity of a spherical phantom of a human head are evaluated numerically as a function of the distance between the array antenna and the head phantom when the two elements of a two-element array antenna are either co-phase voltage-fed or reverse-phase voltage-fed. It is found that relation between the worst case of the SAR and the phase difference of array elements strongly depends on the distance. When part of the head phantom is located in the reactive near-field region of the array antenna, although the co-phase feed SAR value is slightly smaller than the reverse-phase feed SAR value, the SAR value is practically independent of the phase difference, but when the head is completely outside the reactive near-field region, the co-phase feed SAR value is larger than the reverse-phase feed SAR value.

A large part of our daily lives is spent surrounded by buildings and other structures. In this paper, we used an infinitelength, multilayered cylindrical model to rigorously analyze the microwave specific absorption rate (SAR) of a human standing near a 90corner wall. At frequencies above 1 GHz, the interactions between the microwaves, the human body (including layer resonance), and the corner cause complex changes in the average SAR. We have shown numerically that the SAR with a corner present is up to four times larger than when there is no corner, and that the average SAR of TE waves at frequencies below 1 GHz is up to 10 times greater than when there is no corner.

An attempt to derive the lethal dose for mice was made at 2.45 GHz for whole body exposure. Based on a numerical dosimetry result and an experimental death rate investigation, the lethal dose was estimated to be a whole body averaged specific absorption rate (SAR) with a level at double the mouse's basal metabolic rate.

A novel in vivo exposure setup has been developed for testing the possible promoting effects of 1.5 GHz digital cellular phones on mouse skin carcinogenesis. The exposure setup has two main features: one is the employment of an electrically short monopole antenna with capacitive-loading, which supplies the ability to realize a highly localized peak SAR above 2 W/kg without any thermal stress for a mouse; the other is the use of a transparent absorber to allow real-time observation of both the exposure process as well as mouse activities during the exposure. Dosimetric analyses for the exposure setup have been carried out both numerically and experimentally. Good agreement was confirmed between the numerical and experimental results, thereby demonstrating the validity of the novel exposure setup.

A method is proposed for estimating the error of whole-body average specific absorption rate (SAR) of an infinite-length cylindrical model of man exposed to TM microwave. At high frequencies, the average SAR of the infinite-length cylindrical model is approximately 5% smaller than that of the finite-length cylindrical 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.

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.

This letter describes the power absorption of a cylindrical man model placed near a flat reflector exposed to TE microwave. The numerical results show that the absorption is in some cases an order of magnitude or more greater than that of the man model without a reflector.

Electromagnetic power absorption in multilayered tissue media including anisotropic muscle regions whose principal dielectric axes (that is, muscle fibers) have various directions are analyzed by using 44 matrix method. Numerical calculations in 10kHz-10MHz show the effects of orientation of muscle fibers and polarization of incident wave on absorbed power density in tissues.

The frequency characteristics of whole-body averaged specific absorption rates (SARs) in a human model exposed to a near field of an electric dipole or a magnetic dipole are calculated, using a finite-difference time-domain method. The dependences of the characteristics on the orientation of the dipole and on the distance from the source to the model are investigated. It is shown that the resonant peak of the SAR that appears in the E-polarized far-field exposure is observed only when the source is E-polarized and is located at 80cm, while the peak vanishes or is not noted when the source is located at 40cm and 20cm nor when it is H-polarized. The relationships between the whole-body averaged SARs and the incident electromagnetic field strengths are also investigated. It is suggested that the spatially-averaged value of the dominating component between the electric field and the magnetic field over the space where a human body would occupy provides a relevant measure to estimate the whole-body averaged SAR of a body in the vicinity of a small radiation source.

For the study of the biological effects of ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) electric fields, the perception mechanism of ELF electric fields was analyzed. When a human body is exposed to an electric field, the hair on the body surface moves due to the electric force exerted on the hair. In theoretical analysis, it was shown that the force is approximately proportional to the dielectric constant of hair and the spatial gradient of the square of the electric field at the hair. The dielectric constant of hair was measured with different temperatures and humidities of the surrounding air. A technique was developed to estimate the electric force exerted on a hair during the field exposure. After experiments with model hair, the technique was applied to a body hair of a living human being. It was found that the force increased with field strength and relative humidity. The variations of the force agreed well with those expected from the theoretical analysis and the measurement of hair dielectric constants. These results explain the cause of the reported variation in the threshold of biological effects of an electric field. The results will help to establish a practical safety standard for the held exposure.

This paper presents an analysis of the dose rate in tissue irradiated by an electromagnetic near field of a circular loop antenna. An analytical model comprised of a circular loop antenna located in the vicinity of the semi-infinite plane of a homogeneous biological medium was formulated. A quasi-static hypothesis was not introduced. The theoretical formulation was rigorously developed based on Maxwell equations which used an electric vector potential, cylindrical coordinates and a Hankel transform. The internal electric field E and the specific absorption rate (SAR) were adopted as indices for the dose in the tissue. This formulation was applied to the dosimetry of a high-frequency therapeutic device (HFTD) and experiment of irradiation to a frog web. The frequency of the applied electro-magnetic fields (EMF) was 9-10MHz. The distance between the antenna and tissue was 2.0-3.2mm. The dose of HFTD were 0.75V/m and 0.35mW/kg, respectively. The dose of experiment of the irradiation to a frog web were 0.42-2.08V/m and 0.11-2.69mW/kg, respectively. The SAR values obtained by this analysis were small enough to conclude that the effects were non-thermal. The calculated SARs of these experiments were compared with estimated SARs in experiments on calcium efflux change due to a weak modulated RF field. All were found to be of the same order of magnitude.

To study the biological effects of the ion-current commonly found under ultra-high voltage DC transmission lines, a technique was developed to evaluate the human exposure to the ion-current field. This technique is based on numerical analysis using the boundary element method. The difficulty of handling the space charge in the calculation was overcome by assuming a lumped source ion-current. This technique is applicable to a three-dimensionally complex object such as a human body. In comparison with theoretical values, the accuracy of this technique was evaluated to be satisfactory for our purposes. It was then applied to a human body in an ion-current field. The distribution of the electric field along the body surface was obtained. The general characteristics of the field distribution were essentially the same as in those without space charges. However, it was found that the strength of the field concentration was significantly enhanced by the space charges. Further, the field exposure when a human body was charged by an ion-current was evaluated. As the charged voltage increases, the position of the field concentration moves from a human's head toward his legs. But the shock of micro spark increases. This technique provides a useful tool for the study of biological effects and safety standards of ion-current fields.

The studies on the biological effects of ELF electric fields conducted in Japan are reviewed. Among international studies, they are characterized as the studies from the viewpoint of bioengineering. In early studies, the safety standard of high voltage transmission lines was determined by a distinct biological effect, i.e., the sensation of the spark discharge caused by electrostatic induction. In numerical analysis, the field coupling to both animal and human bodies became well understood. Some new measurement techniques were developed which enabled us to evaluate the field exposure on a human body. A system was developed to realize the chronic exposure of an electric field on mice and cats. An optical telemetry technique was developed to measure the physiological response of an animal when it was exposed to an electric field. An ion-current shuttle box was developed to investigate the behavioral change of a rat when it was exposed to an ion-current as well as an electric field. In animal experiments, a mechanism of sensing the field was investigated. The cause of the seasonal change of field sensitivity was found. In cases of chronic exposure, suppression of growth was suspected. In shuttle box studies, an avoidance behavior from an ion-current was quantified. To find whether there are any adverse or beneficial effects of the field exposure on human beings, further study is required to clarify the mechanisms of the biological effects.

From the standpoint of studying the biological effects of microwaves on human eyes, this paper numerically examines the specific absorption rate (SAR) inside the eyeball, using the finite-difference time-domain (FD-TD) method, which does not require very much computer storage. Two kinds of highly heterogeneous models constructed by us and Taflove's group are used to compute the SARs inside the eyeball for 1.5-GHz microwave exposure under the 1991 ANSI protection guideline. The SAR contour lines and the spatial distribution are shown inside the eyeball. Comparison is also made between the SARs for the two computation models.

This letter describes the usefulness of a homogeneous spherical model of the isolated human head in SAR calculation for UHF plane-wave exposure. Comparison is made between this SAR and several results that were computed and measured for the homogeneous but realistic whole-body model of the human by other researchers.