Interaction of radio frequency electromagnetic fields and passive metallic implants—A brief review

Abstract

During the last decade, use of radio frequency (RF) applications like mobile phones and other wireless devices, has increased remarkably. This has triggered numerous studies related to possible health risks due to the exposure of RF electromagnetic (EM) fields. One safety aspect is the coupling of EM fields with active and passive implants in the human body. While interactions with active implants have been quite extensively researched, only a few studies have focused on passive implants. The present article reviews interaction mechanisms and studies of passive metallic, that is, conductive, implants in common external RF EM fields. It is found that implants have been mostly studied numerically, and experimental studies are rare. Furthermore, the studies cover mostly far-field conditions and only a few have studied implants in near fields. A summary of results indicates that a conductive object in tissues may cause notable local enhancement of the EM field and thus enhanced power absorption. The degree of enhancement depends, for example, on the orientation, the dimensions, the shape, and the location of the implant. However, in most of the cases, the field enhancement has not been strong enough to cause remarkable excess heating (more than 1 degrees C) of tissues.

Implants médicaux et champs électromagnétiques basses fréquences 0–100 kHz

“…Les conséquences de l'exposition peuvent être l'aimantation de l'implant, ou la sensation d'échauffement (par induction), désagréable. S'il peut y avoir des conséquences à surveiller elles n'engagent généralement pas de risque vital sauf dans les cas d'implantation critique (stents artériels, clips intracérébraux) (Virtanen et al, 2006). (Kurtz et al, 2010), basé sur les nouvelles technologies, avec des évolutions et des améliorations des matériaux.…”

Quasi Optical Effects of Non-Ionizing Radiation Inside Pregnant Woman Abdomen

“…Interaction of radiofrequency (RF) in the human body has been reported in several research articles [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. In this paper, plano-convex lens like behaviour is investigated for a pregnant woman abdomen for non ionizing microwave radiation.…”

MRI-Induced Tissue Heating at Metallic Sutures (Cerclages)

“…However, reported quantitative results were quite different. Metallic implants were considered acceptable for MRI based on calculated temperature elevations below 1.5˚C [1][2][3] while others concluded they were counterindicated because of calculated temperature elevations up to some 13˚C. Highest temperature increases were reported at tips of straight metallic wires [4][5][6][7][8].…”