Generation of Acoustical Images from the Absorption of Pulsed Microwave Energy

Abstract

One of the biological effects of pulsed microwave irradiation that has received much attention from physical scientists is the so-called microwave auditory effect in which subjects actually “hear” the pulses of microwave energy that are beamed to their heads. Several hypotheses have been advanced to explain the phenomenon; a direct neuronal interaction was originally suspected (Frey, 1961), but after it was demonstrated in animals that a distinct cochlear microphonic followed each microwave pulse (Chou et al, 1975), the hypothesis of thermo-elastic wave generation gained credibility (Lin, 1978). It is now accepted by many that the microwave auditory effect arises from a small but rapid rise in temperature and thermal expansion of the tissues of the head that absorb the microwave pulse.

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