Relationship between spatial-averaged SAR and temperature elevation in human head models from 1–10 GHz

The present study investigates the relationship between the maximal temperature elevation and peak mass-averaged specific absorption rate (SAR) in different human head models, for frequencies ranging from 1 to 10 GHz. A half-wave dipole antenna is considered as a wave source at respective frequencies. Bioheat equation is used to compute the microwave-induced temperature elevation. In the post-processing, mass-averaged SAR was calculated by using different averaging algorithms which take into account the description in the international guidelines/standard. Computational results show that the ratio of the maximal temperature elevation to mass-averaged SAR depends on the averaging scheme, especially at higher frequencies. The ratios with the averaging schemes considering the contiguous tissue without the shape definition are highly affected by the power absorbed in the pinna. These results are likely to be informative for future harmonization of safety guidelines/standards.