SAR modelling and measurements

Nowadays, it is nearly impossible to imagine a life without mobile phone, PDA, laptop with wireless connectivity or walkie-talkie. All these devices use radiofrequency electromagnetic fields to provide a communication link for a voice, data, audio or video service. Together with the advent of these wireless communication devices, concerns raised upon the possible adverse health effects of the electromagnetic radiation on a human. These portable devices radiate electromagnetic energy in the proximity of the body. The electromagnetic waves incident upon the human body, partly penetrates the human body. Because the human body behaves electromagnetically as a lossy medium, the human tissue absorbs the penetrated electromagnetic energy.

Exposure guidelines and standards have been issued in order to limit the absorbed electromagnetic power, generated by a wireless device, in human body tissue. The wica group has built up a great expertise in the assessment of the electromagnetic energy in lossy tissue. State-of-the-art simulation packages aid in the theoretical investigation of SAR dosimetry cases. Our test lab is equipped with a DASY3 measurement system which enables the measurements of fields in free-space as well as in lossy liquids. Our group is one of the contributing partners in the EUREKA project SARSYS BWP.