Microdosimetry in a realistic keratinocyte cell model at mmWave and HF frequencies

Wide spread of millimeter-wave (mmWave) and wireless power transfer (WPT) technologies opens new challenges in terms of characterization of bioelectromagnetic interactions. The objective of this study is to investigate quantitatively the induction of such electromagnetic radiation within cells at 6.78 MHz and 60 GHz respectively. A realistic model of the keratinocyte, which takes into account the complex morphologies and volume fraction of organelles, was developed. The finite element method (FEM) was used to solve the Laplace’s equation under quasi-static approximation. The results show that the power loss density (PLD) within the cellular and subcellular compartments increases with frequency due to diminished shielding effect of the membranes. At 60 GHz and 6.78 MHz, the average power loss density (PLD
avg
) within the cellular and subcellular organelles is about six and three orders of magnitude higher than that at 1 kHz. Also, in comparison to the background PLD
avg
within cytoplasm (CP), the intracellular traffic through the nuclear pores (N
p
) is submitted to three orders of magnitude higher exposure level at 6.78 MHz and 2.5 times higher exposure level at 60 GHz.