22/11/2010
Novel Methodology to Characterize Electromagnetic Exposure of the Brain
Pedro Crespo-Valero, Maria Christopoulou, Marcel Zefferer, Andreas Christ, Peter Achermann, Konstantina S. Nikita, and Niels Kuster, in Physics in Medicine and Biology, Volume 56, Number 2, pp. 383–396, January 2011, online December 22, 2010.
Due to the very non-uniform field distribution induced in brain tissues by RF electromagnetic sources, the exposure of anatomical and functional regions of the brain may be a key issue in interpreting lab findings and epidemiological studies concerning endpoints related to the CNS. This paper introduces the Talairach atlas in characterization of the electromagnetic exposure of the brain. A hierarchical labeling scheme is mapped onto high-resolution human models allowing identification of over a thousand sites in the brain. Applications include the detailed dosimetric analysis of the exposure of the brain during cell phone use, improved design of exposure setups for human studies or medical diagnostic and therapeutic devices using electromagnetic fields or ultrasound.