Determination of electric current distributions in animals and humans exposed to a uniform 60-Hz high-intensity electric field.

The thermographic method for determining specific absorption rate (SAR) in animals and models of tissues or bodies exposed to electromagnetic fields was applied to the problem of quantifying the current distribution in homogeneous bodies of arbitrary shape exposed to 60-Hz electric fields. The 60-Hz field exposures were simulated by exposing scale models of high electrical conductivity to 57.3-MHz VHF fields of high strength in a large 3.66 X 3.66 X 2.44-m TE101 mode resonant cavity. After exposure periods of 2-30 s, the models were quickly disassembled so that the temperature distribution (maximum value up to 7 degrees C) along internal cross-sectional planes of the model could be recorded thermographically. The SAR, W', calculated from the temperature changes at any point in the scale model was used to determine the SAR, W, for a full-scale model exposed to a 60-Hz electric field of the same strength by the relation W = (60/f')2 . (sigma'/sigma) . W' where f' is the model exposure frequency, sigma' is the conductivity of the scale model at the VHF exposure frequency, and sigma is the conductivity of the full-scale subject at 60 Hz. The SAR was used to calculate either the electric field strength or the current density for the full-scale subject. The models were used to simulate the exposure of the full-scale subject located either in free space or in contact with a conducting ground plane. Measurements made on a number of spheroidal models with axial ratios from 1 to 10 and conductivity from 1 to 10 s/m agreed well with theoretical predictions. Maximum current densities of 200nA/cm2 predicted in the ankles of man models and 50 nA/cm2 predicted in the legs of pig models exposed to 60-Hz fields at 1kV/m agreed well with independent measurements on full-scale models.