In this study, the infrared thermography was used to examine heating effects in human auricle region due to short-duration use of smartphones in normal and flight mode operation by 20 healthy volunteers (age 19-24 years, 9 females and 11 males). Statistically significant differences in both modes were observed between mean temperatures of the auricle regions before and immediately after the use of the smartphone. The increase in tissue temperature resulted from a combined effect of conductive heat transfer caused by the non-microwave-related activity of the smartphone and the absorption of the radiofrequency microwaves. Furthermore, we observed the thermal effect even after 1 h of such short use of the smartphone. The transient temperature change in tissues due to smartphone use can contribute to the cumulative thermal effects and thus both short-and long-duration use of smartphones should be considered in future studies. The small study also showed a gender dimension in the thermal response, which also merits further investigation. The study confirmed the usefulness of using thermography for direct quantitative analyses of temperature changes related to smartphone usage, which can be exploited in future epidemiological studies in personalized and preventive medicine.
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