Theoretical Estimations of Safety Thresholds for Terahertz Exposure of Surface Tissues

Author

Saviz, Mehrdad ; Spathmann, Oliver ; Streckert, Joachim ; Hansen, Volkert ; Clemens, Markus ; Faraji-Dana, Reza

Author_Institution

Sch. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Volume

3

Issue

5

fYear

2013

fDate

Sept. 2013

Firstpage

635

Lastpage

640

Abstract

This paper contributes to the topic of radiation safety in the THz band by providing theoretical estimations of the permissible incident power densities over 100 GHz-10 THz. Microthermal absorption has been characterized and a worst-case analysis has been done to provide thresholds for the tissue-internal electric field strength at THz frequencies. Dielectric models for the skin and the cornea of the eye as exposed surface tissues have been constructed and used to estimate the corresponding thresholds for incident power densities. The findings of this study shall be useful as a new theoretical framework for future studies related to THz radiation safety and regulation.

Keywords

eye; medical image processing; skin; terahertz waves; THz band; THz radiation regulation; THz radiation safety; cornea; dielectric models; eye; frequency 100 GHz to 10 THz; microthermal absorption; power density; skin; surface tissues; terahertz exposure; tissue-internal electric field strength; worst-case analysis; Biological effects of radiation; microthermal effects; radiation safety; terahertz (THz);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Terahertz Science and Technology, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

2156-342X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TTHZ.2013.2264327

Filename

6528026