In vitro dielectric properties of human tissues at radiofrequencies

Abstract

In vitro permittivity measurements of excised human liver, spleen, kidney and cardiac muscle at frequencies from 10 kHz to 100 MHz are described. An end-of-the-line capacitive sensor and a computer-controlled network analyser HP 3577 were employed. The results were compared with human data reported by other investigators as well as with the animal (cat) data obtained earlier in the laboratory. It was found that the conductivity of most of the human tissues tested was significantly higher than that of the animal tissues for the test frequencies. The dielectric constants for human kidney and spleen are higher than the corresponding animal (cat) tissues at frequencies from 10 kHz to approximately 1 MHz and at around 100 MHz. However, the values for liver do not differ significantly between the two species in the same frequency range.