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Mechanisms of interaction of electromagnetic fields with human body
Abstract
Ubiquitous electromagnetic fields in the human environment ask for definition of interaction mechanisms to understand hazards from exposure of human body. Even though industrial and medical applications of electromagnetic fields are present in the human society more than hundred years, the interaction mechanisms of electromagnetic fields and human being are still subject of research, and health and environmental hazards are still subject of public concern.
... As a possible tool, the proposed methodology can be used in healthcare environments to assure their compliance with the exposure level thresholds (CR 1999), health and safety conditions, and the EM compatibility. As a consequence, improvements can be made to encourage and guarantee a better level of protection for the health and safety of workers (Karpowicz and Simunic 2009), patients, and people in general. The measurement methodology has been proposed by CUHC and is used in this kind of research work. ...
Recent advances in wireless technologies have lead to an increase in wireless instrumentation present in healthcare centers. This paper presents an analytical method for characterizing electric field (Efield) exposure within these environments. The E-field levels of the different wireless communications systems have been measured in two floors of the Canary University Hospital Consortium (CUHC). The electromagnetic (EM) conditions detected with the experimental measures have been estimated using the software “EFC-400 Telecommunication”, commercialized by Narda Safety Test Solutions. The experimental and simulated results are represented through 2D contour maps, and have been compared with the recommended safety and exposure thresholds. The maximum value obtained is much lower than the 3 V/m that is established in the International Electrothecnical Commission Standard of Electromedical Devices.
Results show a high correlation in terms of E-field cumulative distribution function (CDF) between the experimental and simulation results. In general, the CDFs of each pair of experimental and simulated samples follow a lognormal distribution with the same mean.
This survey aims to provide a methodology for studying the electromagnetic environments that can help to avoid EM interferences on electro medical equipment, and monitor the exposure to EM fields of the staff, the patients and the general public.
... As a possible tool, the proposed methodology can be used in healthcare environments to assure their compliance with the exposure level thresholds (CR 1999), health and safety conditions, and the EM compatibility. As a consequence, improvements can be made to encourage and guarantee a better level of protection for the health and safety of workers (Karpowicz and Simunic 2009), patients, and people in general. The measurement methodology has been proposed by CUHC and is used in this kind of research work. ...
A systematic literature review was carried out to study patient security and possible harmful effects, immunity and interferences on medical devices, and effectiveness and transmission problems in healthcare and hospital environments due to electromagnetic interferences. The objective was to determine already-reported cases of patient security, immunity of medical devices, and transmission/reception failure in order to evaluate safety and security of patients. Literature published in the last 10 years has been reviewed by searching in bibliographic databases, journals, and proceedings of conferences. Search strategies developed in electronic databases identified a total of 820 references, with 50 finally being included. The study reveals the existence of numerous publications on interferences in medical devices due to radiofrequency fields. However, literature on effectiveness, transmission problems and measurements of electromagnetic fields is limited. From the studies collected, it can be concluded that several cases of serious interferences in medical instruments have been reported. Measures of electromagnetic fields in healthcare environments have been also reported, concluding that special protective measures should be taken against electromagnetic interferences by incoming radio waves.
Radiofrequency (RF) localization is used in many fields of daily routine of almost everyone. It is becoming crucial application in many fields, starting from industry to everyday life. Location is calculated using radio waves in many applications such as GPS system, indoor localization using WLAN system, localization based on mobile network parameters like A-GPS system, or localization in warehouses using RFID tags. In this work, we present radiofrequency localization of endoscopic smart pill inside human body used for visual imaging of human gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This kind of visual imaging can bring significant benefit to the medical doctors and patients, if there would be a possibility to localize the pill, while moving through the GI tract. Frequency band proposed for this application is MedRadio band (401 - 406 MHz) and ISM band (2.4 GHz). Finally, the patients and medical staff would welcome standardization in the field of endoscopic pill and its localization.
European Directive 2004/40/EC on occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF), based on the guidelines of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, was to be implemented in the Member States of the European Union by 2008. Because of some unexpected problems the deadline was postponed until 2012. This paper reviews some of the problems identified and presents some suggestions for possible solutions based on the authors' experience in assessing occupational exposure to EMF. Among the topics discussed are movement in static magnetic fields, ways to time average extreme low frequency signals, the difference between emission and exposure standards, and ways of dealing with those issues.
The strength of electromagnetic fields (EMF) to which humans are exposed has been increasing gradually with the growth of electric power generation and transmission, the development of new telecommunication systems, and advances in medical and industrial applications. Although the health effects of EMF on humans have been of research interest for several decades, development of standards that incorporate the limits of human exposure to nonionizing radiation (NIR) has occurred more recently for some parts of the electromagnetic frequency spectrum.
Electromagnetic fields exposure assessment methodology is briefly presented. The basic problems defined for the practical
use of electromagnetic fields measurements and numerical calculations carried out for workers exposure assessment in real
occupational situations are discussed. The examples of data from real workplace are presented, focusing: spatial distribution
of electromagnetic fields affecting worker’s body, complex characteristics of the frequency content, workers activities/moving
in the workplace, field impedance, etc. The situation when the use of calculations is required is discussed. The basic requirements
for workers exposure assessment protocols are presented. The possible range of the use of internal and external measures of
exposure level is also discussed.
This paper discusses dosimetry of electromagnetic fields designed for future Body Area Networks (BAN). Electromagnetic dosimetry, which quantifies the interaction of electromagnetic fields with biological material, is primarily used for evaluation of human exposures due to wireless devices generating electromagnetic fields. The calculation of total external electromagnetic fields enables determination of the deposited electromagnetic energy in a human being via Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) using known approximation formulas. This paper presents an application of the analytical solution of SAR to calculations of human exposure from proposed BAN systems.
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