Determining The Influence Of Population Variation On Compliance With Radiofrequency Exposure Limits: Proposed Study

Currently, compliance with safety limits for human exposure to radiofrequency (RF) fields is demonstrated by methods that rely on certain assumptions and approximations, which include among other things, human anatomical features, tissue types and the dielectric properties of these tissues. This paper reviews some of the available data and outlines a proposal for an encompassing study to investigate which of these assumptions are appropriate; what approximation can be used in physical and computational modeling of humans for specific energy absorption rate (SAR) calculations (a key compliance metric); and what trade-offs can be made between accuracy and modeling requirements for practical considerations. Key issues to be investigated are how SAR varies between children and adults, between males and females, and how to model SAR in the fetus of pregnant females. It is hoped that the proposed study will produce models and methods which allow for faster, more accurate and more efficient compliance with radiofrequency exposure limits.