Electromagnetic and thermal simulations of 3-D human head model under RF radiation by using the FDTD and FD approaches

Abstract

Presents computer simulations of electromagnetic (EM) absorption and the associated thermal effects in a realistic 3-D human head model under radio frequency (RF) radiation. The 3-D human head model is generated from a set of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) anatomical slices. Maxwell's equations are solved to obtain the harmonic electric field and heat potential by using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. From the heat potentials, the steady state biological heat transfer equation is solved by using the finite difference (FD) method. From the simulation results under Dirichlet boundary condition, noticeable temperature rise was observed in the head model under RF plane wave radiation at 1 GHz, with power density of 10 mW/cm/sup 2/ (the previous US safety standard).