Naslov
On the assessment of pregnant woman/foetus exposure to electromagnetic fields by using numerical methods

Autori
Poljak, Dragan

Izvornik
Paediatria Croatica. Supplement (1330-724X) 57 (2013), 1; 1-9

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, pregledni rad, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
The pregnant woman/foetus exposure; electromagnetic fields; induced current density; specific absorbtion rate (SAR); numerical methods

Sažetak
Aim: The paper deals with pregnant woman and foetus exposure to electromagnetic fields at extremely low and high frequencies, respectively using numerical modeling approach. Methods: The pregnant woman and foetus are represented by different computational models taking into account both the geometry and the electrical properties of organs. Different physical and geometrical properties of the relevant tissues are taken from medical data available in relevant literature. At Low Frequency (LF) realistic, anatomically based, model of pregnant woman/foetus is based on a quasistatic approximation, Laplace equation and related numerical solution by means of a three dimensional multi-domain Boundary Element Method (BEM). The model accounts for variations in geometry, body mass, fat and overall chemical composition in the female body. At High Frequency (HF) exposures, due to high mathematical complexity of the problem a simplified representation of pregnant woman/foetus is based on the corresponding Helmholtz equations formulation. (based on the Finite Element Method - FEM). Numerical simulation is carried out by means of FEKO software package. Results: Some computational examples are presented throughout the paper. Certain results for the induced current density and specific absorption rate (SAR), respectively suggest the foetus to might get overexposed. Conclusions: The paper reviews the exposure of a pregnant woman/foetus to LF electric fields generated by overhead power lines and to HF antenna/plane wave radiation. Analyzing the calculated results for LF exposure the simulation results suggest that the foetus is exposed to higher values of current density than the mother brain. Regarding HF exposure it has been found that for foetus, the limit for whole-body average should be considered, as for this quantity the foetus might get overexposed.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Elektrotehnika

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