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.

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.

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.

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.