The feasibility of using medical imaging modalities for in-vivo detecting of physiological effects of electromagnetic radiation in the human brain during the use of cellular phones

The widespread use of mobile phones has caused a substantial public concern about a possible connection between the RF energy emitted by the phone and adverse effects to the brain. The thermal effect is agreed to be the main demonstrable effect of RF energy on the human body. Despite this fact, it is now accepted the need to at least investigate observations, which do not seem to be linked to the thermal deposition of energy in the human body. One of the important issues in this subject is what really happens in the brain during the use of cellular phones. This can only be answered with an in-vivo experiment. We review some of the medical imaging modalities (MRI, PET, and SPECT) as powerful tools for accurate investigation either anatomically or physiologically. The feasibility of utilising any of these techniques for an in-vivo assessment of the electromagnetic radiation from the cellular phones to the human head (brain) is mentioned. The main objective of this review is to discuss techniques that can detect specific macroscopic physiological effects of cellular phones EM fields, rather than the effects of these fields in the ionic levels and enzymatic responses or regulatory mechanisms of cell growth.