Abstract
With the extensive use of wireless devices within or at close proximity to the human body, electromagnetic effects caused by the interaction between radio frequency waves and human tissues should be considered with paramount importance. Specific absorption rate (SAR) and specific absorption (SA) have been used as key indices in measuring the electromagnetic effects on the human tissue subjected to wireless signals. This chapter focuses on the SAR, SA, and temperature variation in human tissue exposed to electromagnetic signals. International regulatory standards that govern the SAR and SA variation are explained in detail. The wireless signals are categorized according to their frequency and bandwidth, and are studied separately in the rest of the chapter. Various analytical studies on the electromagnetic effects caused by wireless signals that are present in the literature are compared in terms of the incident signal frequency, modeling methodology, and the human tissue type of interest. Two case studies that represent the electromagnetic effects for head implant applications are described in detail with graphical representations of SAR and temperature variation results. The analysis presented in this chapter shows that the electromagnetic effects caused by wireless signals depend on many factors, such as incident frequency, signal bandwidth, tissue properties, antenna properties, and positioning of the wireless device.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
M. Zhang, T. Tarn, N. Xi, Micro/nano-devices for controlled drug delivery, in IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2004
Q. Fang, Body EMF absorption: a design issue for implantable medical electronics. Int. J. Bioelectromagn. 12(1), 7–11 (2010)
C.H. Durney, H. Massoudi, M.F. Iskander, Radiofrequency Radiation Dosimetry Handbook. Reg. No. SAM-TR-85-73 (U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace, Medical Division, Brooks Air Force Base, 1986)
ICNIRP, ICNIRP guidelines for limiting exposure to time‐varying electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields (up to 300 GHz). Health Phys. 74(4), 494–522 (1998)
IEEE, IEEE Standard for Safety Levels with Respect to Human Exposure to Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields, 3 kHz to 300 GHz. IEEE Std C95.1-2005 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2005)
D. Miklavcic, N. Pavselj, F.X. Hart, Electric Properties of Tissues. Wiley Encyclopedia of Biomedical Engineering, 2006
J.P. Reilly, Applied Bioelectricity: From Electrical Stimulation to Electropathology, 1st edn. (Springer, Secaucus, 1998)
K.R. Foster, H.P. Schwan, Dielectric properties of tissues and biological materials: a critical review. Crit. Rev. Biomed. Eng. 17(1), 25–104 (1989)
Anthony N. Laskovski, Mehmet R. Yuce, T. Dissanayake, Stacked spirals for biosensor telemetry. IEEE Sensors J. 11, 1484–1490 (2011)
G. Lazzi, S.C. DeMarco, W. Liu, J.D. Weiland, M.S. Humayun, Computed SAR and thermal elevation in a 0.25-mm 2-D model of the human eye and head in response to an implanted retinal stimulator – part II: results. Trans. Antennas Propagation 51(9), 2286–2295 (2003)
C. Gabriel, Compilation of the dielectric properties of body tissues at RF and microwave frequencies, February 1996
S. Gabriel, R.W. Lau, C. Gabriel, The dielectric properties of biological tissues: III. Parametric models for the dielectric spectrum of tissues. Phys. Med. Biol. 41(11), 2271–2293 (1996)
M. Chae, Z. Yang, M.R. Yuce, L. Hoang, W. Liu, A 128-channel 6 mW wireless neural recording IC with spike feature extraction and UWB transmitter. IEEE Trans. Neural Syst. Rehabil. Eng. 17, 312–321 (2009)
Y. Gao et al., Low-power ultrawideband wireless telemetry transceiver for medical sensor applications. IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. 58(3), 768–772 (2011)
N. Simicevic, Dosimetric implication of exposure of human eye to ultra-wideband electromagnetic pulses, in Asia-Pacific Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility, 19–23 May 2008, pp. 208–211
N. Simicevic, FDTD computation of human eye exposure to ultra-wideband electromagnetic pulses. Phys. Med. Biol. 53(6), 1795–1809 (2008)
Q. Wang, J. Wang, SA/SAR analysis for multiple UWB pulse exposure, in Asia-Pacific Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility, 19–23 May 2008, pp. 212–215
V. De Santis, M. Feliziani, F. Maradei, Safety assessment of UWB radio systems for body area network by the FD2TD method. IEEE Trans. Magn. 46(8), 3245–3248 (2010)
C. Buccella, V. De Santis, M. Feliziani, Prediction of temperature increase in human eyes due to RF sources, in IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility, 2007, pp. 825–833
T. Koike-Akino, SAR analysis in dispersive tissues for in vivo UWB body area networks, in IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference, 2009, 30 November to 4 December 2009, pp. 1–6
Z.N. Chen, A. Cai, T.S.P. See, X. Qing, M.Y.W. Chia, Small planar UWB antennas in proximity of the human head. IEEE Trans. Microw. Theor. Tech. 54(4), 1846–1857 (2006)
The Visible Human Project, 2000. [Online]. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/visible_human.html
P. Soontornpipit, Effects of radiation and SAR from wireless implanted medical devices on the human body. J. Med. Assoc. Thail. 95(2), 189–197 (2012)
L. Xu, M.Q.H. Meng, H. Ren, Y. Chan, Radiation characteristics of ingestible wireless devices in human intestine following radio frequency exposure at 430, 800, 1200, and 2400 MHz. IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag. 57(8), 2418–2428 (2009)
N.I.M. Yusoff, S. Khatun, S.A. AlShehri, Characterization of absorption loss for UWB body tissue propagation model, in IEEE 9th Malaysia International Conference on Communications, 15–17 December 2009, pp. 254–258
M. Feliziani, Advanced Numerical Techniques for EMC-Related Bio Electromagnetic and Medical Applications (Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Univ. of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy, 2011)
CST Microwave Studio, Bio-Electromagnetic Simulations for Medical Devices (European UGM, 2011). [Online]. http://www.cst.com
N.O. Sokal, A.D. Sokal, Class E-A new class of high-efficiency tuned single-ended switching power amplifiers. IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 10(3), 168–176 (1975)
A. Al-Kalbani, M.R. Yuce, J.-M. Redouté, Safe SAR levels in inductively powered brain implanted visual prostheses, International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC Europe), 2012
G. Lazzi, Thermal effects of bioimplants. IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Mag. 24(5), 75–81 (2005)
T. Dissanayake, M.R. Yuce, C. Ho, Design and evaluation of a compact antenna for implant-to-air UWB communication. IEEE Lett. Antenn. Wireless Propag. 8, 153–156 (2009)
T. Dissanayake, K.P. Esselle, M.R. Yuce, Dielectric loaded impedance matching for wideband implanted antennas. IEEE Trans. Microw. Theor. Tech. 57(10), 2480–2487 (2009)
M. Klemm, G. Troester, EM energy absorption in the human body tissues due to UWB antennas. Prog. Electromagn. Res. 62, 261–280 (2006)
FCC, Questions and answers about biological effects and potential hazards of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. OET Bull. 56 (1999)
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Dr. Tharaka Dissanayake for his help in designing the UWB antenna used for the high-frequency simulations. Also, special thank should be given to Monash e-Research Centre, Monash University, Australia for their cooperation in assisting this work by providing the high performance computing facility for the computationally intensive simulations.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Thotahewa, K.M.S., Al-Kalbani, A.I., Redouté, JM., Yuce, M.R. (2014). Electromagnetic Effects of Wireless Transmission for Neural Implants. In: Yang, Z. (eds) Neural Computation, Neural Devices, and Neural Prosthesis. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8151-5_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8151-5_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-8150-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-8151-5
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)