Absorption of RF Radiation in confocal and uniformly shelled ellipsoidal biological cell models

Abstract

This paper presents a detailed calculation of the electric field distribution induced in biological cell models exposed to a RF radiation. The study shows the importance of using realistic cell shapes with the proper geometry and electrical properties to study the mechanisms of direct cellular effects from RF exposure. For this purpose, the electric field distribution within confocal and shelled ellipsoidal cell models is calculated by using a finite element technique with adaptive meshing. The cell models are exposed to linearly polarized electromagnetic plane waves of frequencies 900 and 2450 MHz. The results show that the amplification of the electric field within the membrane of the confocal shape cell is more significant than that observed in shelled cell geometries. The results show the dependence of the induced electric field distribution on frequency, electrical properties of membrane and cytoplasm and the orientation of the cell with respect to the applied field.