Development and evaluation of intermediate frequency magnetic field exposure system for studies of in vitro biological effects

We have developed an intermediate frequency (IF) magnetic field exposure system for in vitro studies. Since there are no previous studies on exposure to heating-frequency magnetic fields generated from an induction heating (IH) cook top, there is a strong need for such an exposure system and for biological studies of IF magnetic fields. This system mainly consists of a magnetic-field-generating coil housed inside an incubator, inside which cultured cells can be exposed to magnetic field. Two systems were prepared to allow the experiment to be conducted in a double-blind manner. The level of the generated magnetic field was set to 532 µTrms in the exposure space, 23 kHz, 80 times the value in the International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines, with a spatial field uniformity better than 3.8%. The waveforms were nearly sinusoidal. It was also confirmed that the parasitic electric field was 157 V/mrms and the induced electric field was 1.9 V/mrms. The temperature was maintained at 36.5 ± 0.5 °C for 2 h. Furthermore, leaked magnetic flux density was 0.7 µTrms or lower at extremely low frequency (ELF) and IF in the stopped system when the other system was being operated, and the environmental magnetic flux density was 0.1 µTrms or lower at the center of the coils. As a result, it was confirmed that this system could be successfully used to evaluate the biological effects of exposure to IF magnetic fields. Bioelectromagnetics 28:538–545, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.