THz Modeling and Dosimetry of Skin

A New Computational Framework

Computational estimation of field and heat distribution within the structure of surface tissues at Terahertz (~1012 Hz) frequencies is hindered by lack of available material properties at these frequencies and the need to dissolve fine details geometrically due to the small wavelengths involved. This paper has its merit at providing a computational framework that overcomes both difficulties.

This work has been a collaborative research work with the chair of electromagnetic theory at the university of  Wuppertal, Germany. The paper appears in:

O. Spathmann, M. Zang, J. Streckert, V. Hansen, M. Saviz, T. M. Fiedler, K. Statnikov, U. R. Pfeiffer, and M. Clemens,  Numerical Computation of Temperature Elevation in Human Skin Due to Electromagnetic Exposure in the THz Frequency Range, IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology, Vol. 5, No. 6, pp. 978 – 989, November 2015.  DOI: 10.1109/TTHZ.2015.2476962

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=7284717

Abstract: The ongoing development of new applications in the terahertz (THz) frequency range, such as wireless communication systems, full-body scanners or other imaging procedures for biological and medical techniques, rapidly increases the number of persons who are potentially exposed to the electromagnetic radiation of those devices. Studies of thermal effects in humans caused by electro-magnetic (EM) exposure with frequencies in the THz frequency range can rarely be found in the literature. In this paper a method for the numerical computation of a potential thermal response in human skin due to EM fields between 0.1 THz and 10 THz is introduced. The method starts with the development of adequate simulation models for EM fields with penetration depths less than 1 mm. In a further step, it covers the provision of absolutely needed dielectric tissue parameters with help of the “effective medium theory”, since material properties above 100 GHz are not listed in the commonly consulted databases. The absorbed power in EM exposed human skin models of different complexity is calculated and subsequently used as heat source for temperature simulations. Spatial and timedependent temperature profiles in the tissue are analyzed for transient and continuous exposures.

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