Generation of infant anatomical models for evaluating electromagnetic field exposures

Abstract

Realistic anatomical modeling is essential in analyzing human exposure to electromagnetic fields. Infants have significant physical and anatomical differences compared with other age groups. However, few realistic infant models are available. In this work, we developed one 12-month-old male whole body model and one 17-month-old male head model from magnetic resonance images. The whole body and head models contained 28 and 30 tissues, respectively, at spatial resolution of 1 mm × 1 mm × 1 mm. Fewer identified tissues in the whole body model were a result of the low original image quality induced by the fast imaging sequence. The anatomical and physical parameters of the models were validated against findings in published literature (e.g., a maximum deviation as 18% in tissue mass was observed compared with the data from International Commission on Radiological Protection). Several typical exposure scenarios were realized for numerical simulation. Dosimetric comparison with various adult and child anatomical models was conducted. Significant differences in the physical and anatomical features between adult and child models demonstrated the importance of creating realistic infant models. Current safety guidelines for infant exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields may not be conservative.

Dosimetry of electromagnetic field exposure of an active armlet and its electromagnetic interference to the cardiac pacemakers using adult, child and infant models

“…They were the infant model (representing a 12-month-old, male; Li et al, 2015), Thelonious (representing a 6-year-old male), Billie (representing a 12-year-old male) and Duke (representing a 34-year-old male) from Virtual Family (Christ et al, 2010) and Chinese adult male (representing a 26-year-old male; Wu et al, 2011). With these models, results from different age groups, ethnic groups and physical dimensions could be provided.…”

Accuracy of bioelectromagnetics studies - role of engineer in medicine

“…Dodatkowo podczas prezentacji rezultatów z eksperymentów rzadko dyskutowane są źródła niepewności, które mogą obarczyć wynik duŜym błędem. Wystarczy przejrzeć najnowsze publikacje w renomowanych czasopismach, aby zauwaŜyć, Ŝe problem niedokładności badań bioelektromagnetycznych związany z wytwarzaniem PEM, jego polaryzacją, czy oddziaływaniami wzajemnymi zostaje pomijany [14,15].…”

“…Samo odseparowanie badanych obiektów od siebie nie jest wystarczają-ce, gdyŜ eliminuje tylko oddziaływania wzajemne, ale naleŜy pamiętać, Ŝe obiekt powinien się swobodnie poruszać, a to z kolei implikuje pewne wymaga-nia dotyczące polaryzacji PEM uŜytego do napromieniowania. Zazwyczaj w takich badaniach wykorzystywane jest pole o polaryzacji liniowej [15], czasami o polaryzacji kołowej [18], jednak do równomiernego napromieniowania swobodnie poruszających się obiektów nie jest to wystarczające.…”

Numerical analysis for infant's unintentional exposure to 3.5 GHz plane wave radiofrequency electromagnetic fields by field test of fifth generation wireless technologies

“…However, considering the safety factor applied in the EMF guidelines, the risk of overexposure for children is not severe [ Wiart et al , ]. Recently, some studies on the exposure of infants to 4G signals have been conducted using the infant anatomical models [ Li et al , ; Dahdouh et al , ].…”