Preface
xi
or developing. Some predict that the entire world population will soon be exposed to
RF electromagnetic fields or radiation from sources located near the human body that
enable wireless communication. The coupling or dosimetry of RF radiation into the
body in presented in Chapter 5. It discusses numerical tools and experimental methods
that may be used to model and assess the interaction of mobile communication devices
with the human body. Given the proximity of the cell phone handset to the human head
in common use, the interaction between the cell phone and the user’s head has been
extensively studied. Moreover, there is increasing scientific interest in assessing human
exposure to base station antennas, local area networks, and newly emerging mobile
communication technologies. These scenarios suggest continuous and simultaneous
exposure to multiple sources of RF and microwave radiation over an extended period of
time or even the entire lifetime of the world population.
Electromagnetic fields and waves are widely used in medicine, and they are playing
progressively more important roles in health care each day. The medical applications are
based on either the direct interaction of the field with biological tissues to illicit functional responses or the conversion of field energy to heat through the delivery of electromagnetic energy into the treatment region. They enable the acquisition of diagnostic
information such as distribution and binding status of nuclei in magnetic resonance
imaging or spectroscopy. The applications encompass a wide range of electromagnetic
frequencies, ranging from static to ELF and RF fields. In addition, they may involve
rapidly changing field transients and spatial gradients, depending on the specific application. The exposure and dosimetry associated with these medical devices and systems
are explained in Chapter 6. This chapter also includes discussions on the unintentional
exposure of patients or staff or both through the coupling of stray electromagnetic fields
from medical devices.
An emerging area of significant research activity over the past decade has been the
terahertz region of the electromagnetic spectrum because of the development of highpower terahertz sources. While there is a paucity of biological studies at terahertz frequencies, information on exposure and dosimetry is even scarcer. However, terahertz
sources are aggressively being explored for practical medical, military, and security
applications. Current examples include early cancer detection and diagnosis; identification of concealed explosives, drugs, and weapons; and terahertz imaging and sensing
techniques for security screening. Chapter 7 reviews available data on the biological
effects of terahertz radiation and discusses the current understanding of the physical
events that transpire when terahertz radiation interacts with biological tissues, cells,
and organelles.
The editor thanks the authors for their intellectual contributions; Sarah Coffey for
valuable assistance in preparing the manuscripts for this volume; Michael Slaughter,
executive editor; and Jessica Vakili, production coordinator, editorial project development of CRC Press/Taylor & Francis for their interest, and Frank Barnes and Ben
Greenebaum, serial editors for their support in publishing this project.
xi
or developing. Some predict that the entire world population will soon be exposed to
RF electromagnetic fields or radiation from sources located near the human body that
enable wireless communication. The coupling or dosimetry of RF radiation into the
body in presented in Chapter 5. It discusses numerical tools and experimental methods
that may be used to model and assess the interaction of mobile communication devices
with the human body. Given the proximity of the cell phone handset to the human head
in common use, the interaction between the cell phone and the user’s head has been
extensively studied. Moreover, there is increasing scientific interest in assessing human
exposure to base station antennas, local area networks, and newly emerging mobile
communication technologies. These scenarios suggest continuous and simultaneous
exposure to multiple sources of RF and microwave radiation over an extended period of
time or even the entire lifetime of the world population.
Electromagnetic fields and waves are widely used in medicine, and they are playing
progressively more important roles in health care each day. The medical applications are
based on either the direct interaction of the field with biological tissues to illicit functional responses or the conversion of field energy to heat through the delivery of electromagnetic energy into the treatment region. They enable the acquisition of diagnostic
information such as distribution and binding status of nuclei in magnetic resonance
imaging or spectroscopy. The applications encompass a wide range of electromagnetic
frequencies, ranging from static to ELF and RF fields. In addition, they may involve
rapidly changing field transients and spatial gradients, depending on the specific application. The exposure and dosimetry associated with these medical devices and systems
are explained in Chapter 6. This chapter also includes discussions on the unintentional
exposure of patients or staff or both through the coupling of stray electromagnetic fields
from medical devices.
An emerging area of significant research activity over the past decade has been the
terahertz region of the electromagnetic spectrum because of the development of highpower terahertz sources. While there is a paucity of biological studies at terahertz frequencies, information on exposure and dosimetry is even scarcer. However, terahertz
sources are aggressively being explored for practical medical, military, and security
applications. Current examples include early cancer detection and diagnosis; identification of concealed explosives, drugs, and weapons; and terahertz imaging and sensing
techniques for security screening. Chapter 7 reviews available data on the biological
effects of terahertz radiation and discusses the current understanding of the physical
events that transpire when terahertz radiation interacts with biological tissues, cells,
and organelles.
The editor thanks the authors for their intellectual contributions; Sarah Coffey for
valuable assistance in preparing the manuscripts for this volume; Michael Slaughter,
executive editor; and Jessica Vakili, production coordinator, editorial project development of CRC Press/Taylor & Francis for their interest, and Frank Barnes and Ben
Greenebaum, serial editors for their support in publishing this project.