Numerical Computation of Temperature Elevation in Human Skin Due to Electromagnetic Exposure in the THz Frequency Range

The ongoing development of new applications in the terahertz (THz) frequency range, such as wireless communication systems, full-body scanners, or other imaging procedures for biological and medical techniques, rapidly increases the number of persons who are potentially exposed to the electromagnetic radiation of those devices. Studies of thermal effects in humans caused by electromagnetic (EM) exposure with frequencies in the THz frequency range can rarely be found in the literature. In this paper, a method for the numerical computation of a potential thermal response in human skin due to EM fields between 0.1 and 10 THz is introduced. The method starts with the development of adequate simulation models for EM fields with penetration depths less than 1 mm. In a further step, it covers the provision of absolutely needed dielectric tissue parameters with help of the “effective medium theory,” since material properties above 100 GHz are not listed in the commonly consulted databases. The absorbed power in EM exposed human skin models of different complexity is calculated and subsequently used as heat source for temperature simulations. Spatial and time-dependent temperature profiles in the tissue are analyzed for transient and continuous exposures.