• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.382-390
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• 2017

In this paper, we consider particular exposure scenarios to evaluate human effects for inductive commercial wireless charging device operating at low frequency. The coil used in this study is the A10 model in Qi standard proposed by WPC(Wireless Power Consortium), and input power is 5 W to the operating frequency of 155 kHz. In perfectly aligned condition, the max leakage magnetic field is $257.58{\mu}T$ which is obtained at the side of the device, and it is exceeded about 7.4 times of the ICNIRP 1998 reference level. The SAR is evaluated with homogeneous phantom which has electric constants of wet skin. The max value of the SAR is $134.47{\mu}W/kg$ which is obtained at the side of the device also, and it is much lower than the international guidelines. Especially, it showed higher SAR values in case of misalignment condition, so we will need to consider the misalignment condition importantly when we evaluate human effects for wireless power transfer system.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.28-33
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• 2010

Increased exposure of human to RF fields has raised concerns for its potential adverse effects on our health. To address the biological effects of RF radiation, we used genome wide gene expression as the indicator. We exposed normal WI-38 human fibroblast cells to 1763 MHz mobile phone RF radiation at a specific absorption rate (SAR) of 60 W/kg with an operating cooling system for 24 h. There were no alterations in cell numbers or morphology after RF exposure. Through microarray analysis, we identified no differentially expressed genes (DEGs) at the 0.05 significance level after controlling for multiple testing errors with the Benjaminiochberg false discovery rate (BH FDR) method. Meanwhile, 82 genes were differentially expressed between RF-exposed cells and controls when the significance level was set at 0.01 without correction for multiple comparisons. We found that 24 genes (0.08% of the total genes examined) were changed by more than 1.5-fold on RF exposure. However, significant enrichment of any gene set or pathway was not observed from the functional annotation analysis. From these results, we did not find any evidence that non-thermal RF radiation at a 60-W/kg SAR significantly affects cell proliferation or gene expression in WI-38 cells.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.213-219
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• 2012

Recently, we are simultaneously exposed by various electromagnetic sources due to an increase of mobile communication services. However, EMF(Electric, Magnetic and Electromagnetic Field) study has been performed mainly about only single frequency. The objective of this paper is to develop an multiple-frequency exposure system for in vitro experiment. The exposure unit for in vitro experiments was designed by radial transmission line type to get broadband characteristics to generate signals of CDMA at 836.5 MHz and WCDMA at 1950 MHz frequency simultaneously. The modulated signals were delivered to the conical antenna through amplifier, digital attenuator and RF combiner. SAR values were obtained by the averaged values of 3 measured values at 9 points in petri dish using the fiber optic temperature probe. The measured return loss was under -15 dB. For 1 W input power, the mean value and standard deviation of SAR were $0.105{\pm}0.019$ for the CDMA frequency and $0.262{\pm}0.055$ for the WCDMA frequency.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.177-182
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• 2009

Purpose : This study presents the optimization of flip angle (FA) to obtain higher contrast to noise ratio (CNR) and lower specific absorption rate (SAR). Materials and Method : T1-weighted images of the cerebrum of brain were obtained from 50$^\circ$ to 130$^\circ$ FA with 10$^\circ$ interval. Signal to noise ratios (SNRs) were calculated for white matter (WM), gray matter (GM), and background noise. The proper FA was analyzed by T-test statistics and Kruskal-wallis analysis using R1 = 1- exp ($\frac{-TR}{T1}$) and Ernst angle cos $\theta$ = exp ($\frac{-TR}{T1}$). Results : The SNR of WM at 130$^\circ$ FA is approximately 1.6 times higher than the SNR of WM at 50$^\circ$. The SNR of GM at 130$^\circ$ FA is approximately 1.9 times higher than the SNR of GM at 50$^\circ$. Although the SNRs of WM and GM showed similar trends with the change of FA values, the slowdown point of decrease after linear fitting were different. While the SNR of WM started decreasing at 120$^\circ$ FA, the SNR of GM started decreasing at less than 110$^\circ$. The highest SNRs of WM and GM were obtained at 130$^\circ$ FA. The highest CNRs, however, were obtained at 80$^\circ$ FA. Conclusion : Although SNR increased with the change of FA values from 50$^\circ$ to 130$^\circ$ at 3T SE T1WI, CNR was higher at 80$^\circ$ FA than at the usually used 90$^\circ$ FA. In addition, the SAR was decreased by using smaller FA. The CNR can be increased by using this optimized FA at 3T MR SE T1WI.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.155-162
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• 1990

Spiral microwave antennas have been developed and measured the thermal distribution in agar phantom. The design has been configured in three types, 3 cm $\phi$ applicator with 24.5 cm length (A type),4 cm $\phi$ with 12.2 cm (B type) and 6 cm $\phi$ with 24.5 cm length (C type). The relative specific absorption rate (SAR) measured in phantom have been used to estimate the depth and profile of effective heating. The applicator of copper antenna with 4 cm $\phi$ diameter and 12.2 cm length (B type) has the most homogeneous (FWHM=3.5 cm) and heating into deep site ($D_{eff}=4\;cm$).

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.34-40
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• 2010

Radiofrequency (RF) radiation might induce the transcription of a certain set of genes as other physical stresses like ionizing radiation and UV. To observe transcriptional changes upon RF radiation, we exposed WI-38, human lung fibroblast cell to 1763 MHz of mobile phone RF radiation at 60 W/kg of specific absorption rate (SAR) for 24h with or without heat control. There were no significant changes in cell numbers and morphology after exposure to RF radiation. Using quantitative RT-PCR, we checked the expression of three heat shock protein (HSP) (HSPA1A, HSPA6 and HSP105) and seven stress-related genes (TNFRSF11B, FGF2, TGFB2, ITGA2, BRIP1, EXO1, and MCM10) in RF only and RF/HS groups of RF-exposed cells. The expressions of three heat shock proteins and seven stress-related genes were selectively changed only in RF/HS groups. Based on the expression of ten genes, we could classify thermal and non-thermal effect of RF-exposure, which genes can be used as biomarkers for RF radiation exposure.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.251-257
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• 2012

Human body communication means transmitting and receiving data through human body medium or through free space along with the human body skin. Electric field distribution around the human body between the transmitter and the receiver were calculated at five different frequencies with 5 MHz interval between 10 MHz and 30 MHz. Commercial electromagnetic simulation tool was used for the calculation of E-field distributions applying the Korean standard male model including 29 different kinds of human tissues. After calculating specific absorption rate(SAR) values on back of the hand, it was compared with International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection(ICNIRP) human protection guideline. While conductivities(${\sigma}$) and relative permittivities(${\varepsilon}_r$) of the human tissues for each frequency were input as the analyzing parameters, electric field intensities near both hands were integrated along the integral line between the nearby electrodes for the calculation of the transmitting and receiving voltages whose ratio was defined as channel loss. The calculated channel losses were about ($75{\pm}1$) dB and showed nearly flat response all through the evaluated frequencies.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.471-473
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• 2002

Public concerns associated with the electromagnetic field (EMF) exposures from mobile phones on human body are increased. Although studies on the effects of the EMF exposures on human have been carried out for a long time, it is not proved yet whether the EMF effect is harmful or not. Based on the scientific results by experts, EMF exposure limits have been regulated as a precautionary approach on the assumption that the EMF effect may be harmful. It is well known that absorbed EMF can be transformed into heat within biological tissues and that thermal effects are related with the specific absorption rate (SAR) distribution. However, the relative magnitude and distribution of the energies are not well defined. Although there is comprehensive information of the thermal effects, most of them come from animal and in vitro studies. Considerable efforts have been made to analyze the EMF absorption model while the actual temperature in the human body has been rarely measured. Temperature changes on the face of a healthy male volunteer were studied. A digital mobile phone of 1.8GHz was used. A digital infrared imaging system (IRIS-5000, Medicore, Seoul, Korea) was applied to take infrared pictures of the face every minute while the volunteer talked over the mobile phone for 20 minutes. The specification of the imaging system was as follows: Temperature resolution = 0.1$^{\circ}C$; Range of temperature measurement = 17～40$^{\circ}C$; Pixel size = 0.9mm ${\times}$ 0.9mm; Frame time = 2.6s; Active temperature of detector = 77$^{\circ}$K. The result showed that temperature of the ear region was increased during the phone call and the region of the temperature increase on the face was expanded as the phone call time increased. Further study is necessary to investigate the temperature rise analytically and quantitatively.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1107-1115
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• 2011

In this paper, a headset multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) antenna for on-body application is proposed and the antenna performance with body effect and the impact on human body are investigated. The proposed MIMO antenna is composed of two planar inverted-F antennas(PIFA) above ground plane and an isolator located between the two antennas enhance the isolation characteristic. Simulation was carried to analyze the effect of human body on antenna performance when a human body is located in the near field of the antenna. According to the measurement result, the diversity performance of the proposed antenna can be considered good since ECC(Envelope Correlation Coefficient), which commonly indicates the performance of a MIMO antenna, remains below 0.1 over the ISM band. The measured SAR values for antennas 1 and 2 are 0.575 W/kg and 0.571 W/kg, respectively when 250 mW input power in engaged. These values satisfy the FCC guideline which states that the 1-g average SAR should be lower than 1.6 W/kg.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.97-129
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• 2008

We are living in the time of high probability of technological risk due to increased rate of technology development and diffusion of new technologies. Resolving uncertainties, the basic attribution of risk, by accumulating knowledge over the risk factors of certain technology is critical to management of technological risk. In many cases of technological risks, high uncertainty of knowledge is commonly mentioned reason for public controversies on risk management. However, the type of technological risk with low social agreement and low uncertainty of knowledge, the main reason for public controversy is absence of social agreement. Public debates on the risks of mobile phones electromagnetic fields(EMF) to human health comes under this category. The knowledge uncertainty on human health effect of mobile phones EMF has been lowered increasingly by accumulating enormous volume of knowledge though scientists have not reached a final conclusion whether it pose a risk to the physical and mental health of the general population or not. In contrast with civil organizations calling for precautionary approach based regulation, the mobile phone industry is cling to the position of no-regulation-needed by arguing no clear evidence to prove health risks of mobile phone EMF has found. In Korea, government set exposure standards based on a measurement called the 'specific absorption rate'(SAR) and require the mobile phone industry to open SAR information to the public by their own decision. From the view of pro-regulation side based on precautionary approach, technology risk managament of mobile phones EMF in Korea is highly limited and formalized one with limited measuring of SAR on head part only and problematic self-regulated opening of information about SAR to the public. As far as the government keeps having priority on protecting interest of mobile phone industry over precautionary regulation of mobile phones EMF, the disagreement between civil organizations and the government will not resolved. The risk of mobile phones EMF to human health have high probability of being underestimated in the rate and damage of risk than objectively estimated ones due to familiarity of mobile phone technology. And this can be the cause of destructive social dispute or devastating disaster. To prevent such disastrous results, technology risk management, which integrating the goals of safety with economic growth in public policy and designing and promoting risk communication, is required.