IEEE TRANSACTIONS (3s VEHICCLAR TECHKOLOGY. VOL. VT-34. KO. 2.

MAY 1985

55

.4bstract--The internal electric ( E ) field and energy deposition in a fullsizeadultmalemannequin in the immediate vicinity of 1.5 W body-mounted communication transceivers have been measured. Transceivers operating at the four frequencies 50, 150, 450, and 800 MHz, and placed atvariouslocationsvis-a-vis the body were used.Themannequin was filledwithtwo-thirdsmuscle-simulantbiologicalphantommixtures at each of the fourfrequencies.Thecomplex permittivities (e*) ofthese mixtures were confirmed by measurement. The internal E-field distribution measured three-dimensional was by implantable E-field probes. Relatively superficial energy depositions were obtained at points close to the location of the transceiver antenna for the two higher frequencies with energydepositionstypicallyless than 1-2 W/kg. Considerably reduced energy depositions were measured the lower at two frequencies on account of in-depth and wider dissemination of the absorbed energy and the relatively high e * of the tissues which results in an increased shielding of the body.

INTRODUCTION HE RAPIDLY expanding use of portable hand-held communication transceivers has created some concern about the exposure of their operators to electromagnetic (EM) radiation. Balzano et al. [ 13, [2] have made measurements of temperature increase in flat surface as well as simulated human head and torso phantoms in the near vicinity of 6-W portable radio antennas operating at 150 and 840 MHz. Their measurements at 150 MHz on the flat phantom have shown that the penetration of energy is much less than that for plane waves with the same E-field intensity. In the case of the simulated head phantom at 150 MHz, less than 0.1 "C rise in temperature was obtained for one minute exposure. A hot spot was observed at 840 MHz in the head phantom about one inch below the surface of the temporal bone. The temperature rise was not large enough for any tissue damage to occur. Athey and Cleveland [3] have obtained preliminary data on measured E 2 inside a simulated human head exposed to portable radios operating around 800 MHz. We have measured internal E-fields inan adult-size male mannequin, filled with biological phantom mixtures. The mannequin was exposed to EM fields from portable radio transceiversoperating at 50, 150, 450. and 800 MHz.The distribution of mass normalized rates of energy absorption (specific absorption rates or SAR's) and E 2 are dependent on the nature of the transceiver antenna and its location vis-a-vis the body. Measurements have therefore focused on the following three commonly used positions of the transceivers.

Transceiver in jacket pocket on right side of chest, with the inner median edge of the case 5 cm from the center of the chest and the top placed 5 cm below the clavicle; the antenna connected directly to the top of the radio and extending up and over the shoulder. Position II. Transceiver located directly below the chin, when the chin is dropped to touch the chest; antenna placed horizontally across the shoulder at about the usual shoulder seam of a jacket . Position 111. Transceiver in the usual hand-held position, i. e., at an angle in front of the face with antenna pointing upward and outward to the right. The transceivers were provided by Remic Corporation, Elkhart, IN. The physical lengths of the flexible antennas used at the four frequencies 800, 450, 150, and 50 MHz were 10, 7.4, 18, and 28.4 cm respectively, which correspond to length-to-wavelength ratios of 0.267, 0.111, 0.09, and 0.047. Results are presented of measured E* distribution inside the mannequin for the three positions of the transceiver at each of the four frequencies. QUANTIFICATION OF EM ABSORPTION

Position I.

A . Biological Phantom Models and Calibration of E-field Probes

1) An adult-size commercially available fiber glass male mannequin (height = 1.82 m) was modified by removal of metallic pins, braces, disks and solid plastic plugs holding the neck and arms to the torso. These metal pieces were replaced by thin plastic members in order to reduce the perturbation of the EM fields. 2) The initial compositions of the biological phantom mixtures, consisting of salt, polyethylene powder, super stuff' and water, at the frequencies arrived four were at from previous work done in our laboratory [4]. The complex permittivities of these mixtures were measured and their compositions were modified to obtain the values required to simulate average properties corresponding to 65 percent muscle, skin and tissues of high water content and 35 percent fat, bone and tissues of low water content [5], [6]. A block diagram of the experimental set-up for the measurement of complex permittivity is shown in Fig. 1. The attenuation constant CY and phase constant P of damped wave

Manuscript received July 1. 1983: revised November 15. 1984. This work mas performed for REMIC Corporation. Elkhart.IN. under contract to NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The authors are with the Department of Electrical Engineering. Uni\ersity of 1Jtah. Salt Lake City. UT 84112. Telephone (801) 581-7743,

' A gel obtained from Oil Research Center, Lafayette.

0 1985 IEEE

LA.

0018-9545/85/0500-0055$01.00

56

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, VOL. VT-34, NO. 2, MAY 1985

Hewlett-Packard Model 8411A HarmonicFreq.Converter

> Ref.
Hewlett-Packard Model 608A

>

Channel. Test Channel

Network Analyzer Hewlett-Packard Model 8410B

Generator 10-500 M z H Probe (Hewlett-Packard Line Slotted irectional D Coupler -10dB NardaMicrowave Corp. Model No. 3000 PolytechnicResearchand Development Co. I n c . Type 206-A

442B)

Fig. 1. Block diagram of the experimental arrangement used for the complex permittivity measurements.

TABLE I
COMPLEX PERMITTIVITIES OF THE BIOLOGICAL PHANTOM MATERIALS NEEDED FOR SIMULATION AT VARIOUS FREQUENCIES
Needed Complex P e r m i t t i v i t y Salt Measured Properties Polyethylene Powder Calculated Complex Permittivityt

Frequency

Composition

KHz

Superstuff
%

a neperslm

6
rad/m

c"

x,
50* 150 0.30 15.78 .45 0 8.77 15.88 Set 1 Avg Set 2 Avg

__

. . . .

11.27 17.65

25.02 24.99

31.4 31.7

88.4 89.4

450

15.60.72 1

8.61

Set I Avg Set 2 Avg

22.8 22.51

15.05 15.36

57.7 58.2

38.6 38.3

800

0.81

. Set 2 Avg .
Avg
=
[E:

Set 1

30.22
30.16

117.14 115.32

45.5 44.0

25.2 24.7

t On a c c o u n o t h e a i r l y a r g e a l u e s f tf f l v o
a l t e rt h e
S A R r e s u l t sd r a s t i c a l l y .

/E*/

E " ~ " 2a l i g h d i f f e r e n c e r o m h e e e d e d a l u e s o e s ] s , t f t n v d

not

The range out.

of t h en e t w o r ka n a l y z e r

HP m o d e l 4 1 0 8 o e s o t x t e n d e l o w 0 0 8 d n e b 1

MHz,

so t h e s e e a s u r e m e n t s m

were n o tc a r r i e d

propagation through thebiological phantom mixture filling the coaxial slotted line were determined using a network analyzer. The relative dielectric constant er and the conductivity u of the phantom mixtures were calculated [4]from (1) and (2):

E,

G- 1

where

= 2rf,f = frequency velocity of light eo permittivity of free space a attenuation constant measured from the change in amplitude of the propagating signahnit distance. p phase constant measured from the change in phase angle of the propagating signahnit distance. The complex permittivities and the compositions of the biological phantom mixtures used at the four frequencies are given in Table I. Special attention has been given to obtain the conductivities and hence E " ( = a/weo) to be close tothe values that are needed because of the direct relationship of the conductivitiy to the losses. 3) A three-dimensional E-field probe2(BRH model 15) was

w c

Courtesy of Mr. Howard Bassen of the Bureau of Radiological Health, Rockville, MD.

CHATTERJEE et ai.: ELECTROMAGNETISM ABSORPTION IN HUMANS Right

Left

(4

(b)

Fig. 2. (a) Measurement points for Position I (transceiver in jacket pocket on right side of chest, with the inner median edge of the case 5 cm from the center of the chest and the top placed 5 cm belowthe clavicle; the antenna is connected directly to the top of the transceiver and extends up and over the shoulder). Frequencies: 450, 800 MHz. e) Measurement points for Position 11 (transceiver located directly below the chin, when the chin is dropped to touch the chest; the antenna is placed horizontally across the shoulder at about the usual shoulder seam of a jacket). Frequencies 450,800 MHz.

used to measure the square of the internal E-field magnitude (Ej2) the mannequin at 450 and 800 MHz. This probe has a in reduced sensitivity at frequencies below 400 MHz. Hence, an implantable E-field probe with larger dipoles, custom made by Holaday Industries, Inc.3 was used for the two lower frequencies 50 and 150 MHz. At each of the four frequencies, the corresponding E-field probe was calibrated in a transverse electromagnetic (TEM) cell. In this triplate line,small a diameter hollow Styrofoam sphere (ka < 0.1) was filled with the corresponding phantom mixture and used as body into the which the E-field probe is implanted. The E-field within such a sphere is known to be 13/[2 + ( E , nj~)]I the incident times E-field, which in turn can be quantified in terms of the power propagating in the TEM cell. 4) It was established in pilot tests that the internal fields (E;) within the body are the highest in close proximity to the antenna, with a dramatic reduction of below the base of the E; antenna. It wassubsequentlyobserved that there was little change in the distribution of E; by replacing the transceiver console (whichis below the base ofthe antenna) by the dummy (metallic rim) console of the same external dimensions provided by Dukar Ltd. This allowedus to increase the power input to the antenna (for more accurate measurements) 5-10 to W instead of the usual 1.5 W associated with transceiver sets. The RF power was supplied by an MCL signal source [model 152221 through a BNC cable entering the console through its lower rim and connected to the antenna mounted on a BNC connector at the upper rim. RESULTS The E-field probes were inserted at various points to measure the distribution of Ei2 inside the mannequin.The
Courtesy of Mr. Robert Curtis. OSHA, SaltLake City, UT.

measured Ej2 would also include the electric field induced by any magnetic field produced by the transceiver antenna. The points of insertion of the probes are illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 for the frequencies 450 and 800 MHz and in Figs. 4 and 5 for the frequencies 50 and 150 MHz with the transceiver in the three positions vis-a-vis the body. For the sake of brevity, only the most interesting and important results are presented. A . 450 MHz Representative values of Ej2 measured with the BRH implantable probe at several points in the mannequin and the calculated values of internal SARs are plotted in Figs. 6 and 7, respectively, for positions I, 11, and 1 1 of the transceiver. 1 The values of E;* and SAR are for a scaled-down transmitted power of 1.5 W that the transceiver is likely to use. Only the points with the highestvaluesof Ej2andSARvaluesare shown. The SARs at the remaining points are considerably lower and this is illustrated in Table I1 for position I. SARs generally less than 1.5 W/kgareobserved for the various antenna positions at 450 MHz.

B . 800 MHz
It was observed that the deposition was relatively superficial and localized at points closest to the antenna location as, for example, is illustrated in Fig. 8. The SARs obtained wereless than about 2 W/kg corresponding to internal fields less than about 42 V/m rms. The highest SAR was obtained at points closest to the antenna for position I of the transceiver with the antenna resting on the chest (Fig. 8(a)).
C. I50 and 50 MHz

The Holaday internal E-field probe was used for the measurements at the two frequencies. probe lower The insertion points A through I and the corresponding scans for

58

IEEE TRANSACTIONS O N VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, VOL. VT-34,

NO. 2. MAY 1985

(a) (b) Fig. 3. (a) Measurement points for Position III-front view (transceiver in the usual hand-held position, i.e., at an angle in front Of the face with the antenna pointing upward and outward to the right). Frequencies: 450 800 MHz. @) Measurement points for Position 111-side view.

150 M z H ,antenna
I I
I

150 MHz antema

Right

Left

Fig. 4. (a) Probe insertion points for Position I. Frequencies: 50, 150 MHz. The figure also illustrates the relative dimensions ofthe antennas at 50 and 150 MHz and parts of the torso in their vicinity. (b) Probe insertion pointsfor Position II. Frequencies: 50, 150 MHz.

59

SAR

ms I
Antenna 3 cm o f f t h e a u r f a c e of t h e body

RnS
0.432
p t . 22 the body. Antenna surface a$ainnrt the of

0.504
0*432

525

Pt.d

450.

0.360 375 450

0.288

fl
\

0.360 3751,

0.288 300

_ _p t_. _ _~4

-\.,\
.
3

p t . 12

0.206
0.144

0.144150
0.072
75..

0.072
SAR

d
WS

p t . 16 17 D 2

4
body

6 cm

depth within the

E2

(a)

Wlkg
depth within the body

1.296 1350
1.152 1200

Antenna 1 c abovethesurface m of t h e body

1.008 1050 0.864

Antenna 2 cm o f f t h e s u r f a c e

900'.
7507

0.90 937.5 0.75

\

of t h e body

0.720

1"' \
'1

0.45

0.15
0

0'

'2

'3 L d e p t h w i t h i n t h e body

6 cm

4
body

depth within the

(b)
Fig. 7. (a) Square of the internal E-fields and the SAR's for some ofthe highest deposition points corresponding to Position II (see Fig. 2(b) for legend). The values are calculated for a transceiver power output of 1.5 W. Frequency = 450 MHz. (b) Square of the internal E-fields and SAR's for some of the highest deposition points corresponding to Position III (see Fig. 3 forlegend). The values are calculated for a transceiver power output of 1.5 W. Frequency = 450 MHz.

Fig. 6 . Square of the internal E-fields and the S A R ' s for some of the highest deposition points Corresponding to Position I (see Fig. 2(a) for legend). Thevalues are calculated for a transceiver power output of 1.5 W. Frequency = 450 MHz.

60

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, VOL. VT-34, NO. 2, MAY 198s

TABLE I1 OF Er2AND THE SAR'S FOR THE VARIOUS POINTS AT A DEPTH OF 0.5 cm WITHIN THE BODY, CORRESPONDING TO POSITIONI (SEE FIG. 2 FOR LEGEND OF THE POINTS)
VALUES
2

Ei
position
1 2 V2/2

SAR

W/kg

Position
13 14 15 16 17 18 19

"2,0112 390.3 464.2 538.1 11.85

2 E.

SAR

*
5.9 23.6

*
0.006 0.02

0.375 0.45 0.52 0.01

3
4 5

*
*

6
7

*
11.85

* * *
0.01 0.23 0.034 0.01

*
11.85 348.9 254.3 159.7 35.5

* *
0.01
0.33 0.24 0.15
0.03

8
9 10 11 11' 12

36.6
35.5 11.85

20
21 22

* *
11.85

23
24 25

*
0.01

*
*
~

are too small to measure accurately. Antenna against the surface of the body frequency = 450 MHz. The values are calculated for a transmitter power output of 1.5 W.

* These values

Pas
1400 1.638

SAR

Antenna againstthesurface ofthebody.

Ei2 w/kg v2/m2

1200
1.404

1200 1.404 1000

800
600

1.17

1000
800
600
400

1.17

Antenna 1 cm from r i g h t eyebrow.

0.936 0.702

200
1.0

2.0. 0 4

3.0

cm
body

Depth withinthe

body

Depth within the

(b)

Fig. 8. (a) Square of the internal E-fields and SAR's for some of the highest deposition points correspondingto Position I (see Fig. 2 for legend). The values are calculated fora transceiver power output of 1.5 W. Frequency = 800 MHz. (b) Square of the internal E-fields and SAR's for some of the highest deposition points correspondingto Position I11 (see Fig. 3 for legend). The values are calculated for a transceiver power output of 1.5 W. Frequency = 800 MHz.

E;' measurements are shown in Figs. 4 and 5 . Representative results, scaled for transceiver powers of 1.5 W are shown in Figs. 9-12 for 150 and 50 MHz, respectively. RMS internal ( E-fields lower than 12 V/m S A R = 0.1 W/kg) were observed at 150 MHz. The highest internal E-field for the usual hand-

held position III of the transceiver was 10.5 V/m (SAR = 0.081 W/kg) at a depth 16 cm from top of the head (Fig. of the 10(a)). The highest internal E-field measured at 50 MHz was 2.95 V/m (SAR = 4 mW/kg) for position I of the transceiver with the antenna resting against the chest (Fig. ll(a)). Values

CHATTERJEE et at.: ELECTROMAGNETISM ABSORPTION IN HUMANS

SAR

61

Wlkg

RYS E l 2 V2/m2

1
sffi
0.07
94.7

245

ATtenna a g a i n s t t h e s u r f a c e of t h e b o d yP r o b e n s e r t e d h r o u g h o l e . i t h F. Figure [See l a for l e g e n d . ]

Vlkg

Ei2

v ?/m2
0.12 1 6 2 . 4 9

Antenna 3 cm o f f t h e s u r f a c e of t h e o d y P r o b e n s e r t e d h r o u g h b . i t hole G hole H 0.06 0.04

0.02
8 12
16
0

27.08
5 1 . 216 4 5

\ \
a

& [See

12

D e p t hw i t h i nt h e

body

D e p t hw i t h i nt h e

Figure f o r 4b legend.] 16 Cm body

(a) Fig. 9. (a) Square ofthe internal E-fields and SARs for some of thehighest deposition points corresponding to Position I. The values are calculated for a transceiver power output of 1.5 W. Frequency = 150 MHz. (b) Square of the internal E-fields and SARs for some of the highest deposition points corresponding to Position 11. The values are calculated for a transceiver power output of 1.5 W. Frequency = 150 MHz.
SAR Wku
4/m2

0.08
0.07

96.79 81.25
67.71

0.06
0.05 0.04 0.03
0.02
0.01

Antenna 1 cm from t h e r i g h t eyebrov. Probe i n s e r t e d from h o l e A. [SeeFigure 5 for legend. I

Antenna 1 cm from r i g h t eyebrov. ProbeInsertedfromhole

B.
[ S e eF i g u r e

5 for l e g e n d . ]

56.16 40.62

12

16

20

cm

16

12

20

cm

Depth vithin the

body

Depth within the

body

(a)

(b)

Fig. 10. Square of the internal E-fields and SARs for some of the highest deposition points corresponding to Position 111. The values are calculated for a transceiver power output of 1.5 W. Frequency = 150 MHz.
SAR

m W/kg

0.4

0.3

Antenne 1 cm f r o m r i g h t eyebrov. P r o b eI n s e r t e dt h r o u g h

0.12

0.25

Antenna 1 cm f r o mr i g h te y e b r o v . A. Probeinsertedthroughhole [ S e eF i g u r e 5 f o r l e g e n d . ]

hole B
0.2 0.41

hole C [ S e eF i g u r e

5 f o rl e g e n d . ]

o.? 0.08

o. 0 61

o.21 0.17
o.12

/
I
4

/
8
12

\\
16

0.1

0.0; O.O4
4

0.04

8 12 Depthwithinthe

16

cm

body

20

cm

Depthwithinthebody

(b) Fig. 11. (a) Square of the internal E-fields and SARs for some of the highest deposition points corresponding to Position I. The values are calculated for a transceiver power output of 1.5 W. Frequency = 50 MHz. (b) Square of the internal E-fields and SARs for some of the highest deposition points corresponding to Position 11. The values are calculated for a transceiver power output of 1.5 W. Frequency = 50 MHz.

62

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, VOL. VT-34, NO.

2 , MAY 1985

4 .O

3.0

Antenna a g a i n s t t h e s u r f a c e of t h e body. P r o b ei n s e r t e dt h r o u g hh o l e [ S e e F i g u r e 4b for l e g e n d .

G.

2) Higher shielding of the body on account of larger effective permittivities E* of high water content tissues [5] at the lower frequencies. 3) Larger lengths of the antennas at the lower frequencies which contribute to increased effective volumes of the body that are exposed. REFERENCES

2.0

1.:

Depth v i t h i n t h e body

SAR

ElmW/kg

W$

D /m2 3.0 6.21

Antenna 3 cm o f f t h e s u r f a c e ofthebody. P r o b ei n s e r t e dt h r o u g hh o l e [ S e eF i g u r e 4b f o r l e g e n d . ]

[ l ] Q.Balzano, 0. Garay, and F. R. Steel, Heating of biological tissue in the induction field of VHF portable radio transmitters, IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol., vol.VT-27,pp.51-56,1978. , Energydeposition in simulatedhumanoperators of 8W-MHz [2] portable transmitters, IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol., vol. VT-27, pp. 174-181,1978. [3] T. W. Atheyand R. F. Cleveland,personalcommunication. and K. Sedigh, Biological phantom materials for [4] 0. P. Gandhi simulating man at different frequencies, presented at the 1976 USNC/ URSI meeting, Amherst, MA. [5] C. C. Johnson and A.W.Guy, Non-ionizingelectromagneticwave effects in biological materials and systems, Proc. ZEEE, vol. 6 0 , pp. 692-718,1972. [6] M. A. Stuchly and S. S. Stuchly,Dielectricproperties of biological substances-Tabulated, J . Microwave Power, vol. 15, pp.19-26, 1980.
H.

2.0 4.14

1.0 2.07

-1

Depth v i t h i n the

body

(b) Fig. 12. Square of the internal E-fields and SARs for some of the highest deposition points corresponding to Position III. The values are calculated for a transceiver power output of 1.5 W. Frequency = 50 MHz.

Indira Chatterjee (S78-M80-M81) was born in Bangalore, India. She received the B.Sc. (honors) and M.Sc. degrees in physics Bangalore from University, Bangalore, in India 1973 and 1975, respectively, the M.S. degree in physics from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH in 1977: and thePh.D. degree in electrical engineering fromtheUniversity of Utah,SaltLakeCity, in 1981. At present, she is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City. Her research interests are electromagnetics and the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with biological systems. Dr. Chatterjee is a member of Phi Kapph Phi.

of Ei2 and SARs considerably lower than those at the higher frequencies were obtained becauseof the larger dimensions of the transceiver antennas at the two lower frequencies (18 and 28.4 cm as compared to 10and 7.4 cm at the twohigher frequencies). This results in an increased volume of the body over which the absorbed energy is distributed. In addition, the higher effective permittivity of the tissues at the lower frequencies, givesrise to a lowernet coupling of energy to the body. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The important observation made from the measurements is that at the two lower frequencies-50 and 150 MHz, there is a considerably lower internal SAR and than at the two higher Ei2 frequencies, 450 and 800 MHz. The reasons for this are the following. 1) In-depth and wider disseminationof the absorbed energy at the lower frequencies and a relatively superficial and proximal deposition at the higher frequencies.

Yong-Gong Gu, photograph and biography not available at time of publication.

Om P. Gandhi (S57-M58-SM65-F79) receivedtheB.Sc.(honors)degreeinphysicsfrom Delhi University, Delhi, India, and the M.S.E. and Sc.D. degrees in electrical engineering from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. He is an author orcoauthor of onetechnicalbook and over140 journal articles microwave on tubes, solid-state devices, electromagnetic and dosimetry has and recently written the textbook Microwave Engineering and Applications published by Pergamon Press. Dr. Gandhi received the Distinguished Research award the University of of U a for t h 1979-1980 special for and a award Outstanding Technical e Achievement from the IEEE, Utah Section, in 1975. H edited a special issue of PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE in January 1980 on Biological Effects and Medical Applications of Electromagnetic Energy. He is the past Chairman of the IEEE Committee on Man and Radiation (COMAR).