Studies on microwaves in medicine and biology: From snails to humans

Abstract

This d'Arsonval Medal acceptance presentation highlights several research themes selected from Dr. Lin's published works, focusing on the microwave portion of the nonionizing electromagnetic spectrum. The topics discussed include investigation of microwave effects on the spontaneous action potentials and membrane resistance of isolated snail neurons, effects on the permeability of blood brain barriers in rats, the phenomenon and interaction mechanism for the microwave auditory effect (the hearing of microwave pulses by animals and humans), the development of miniature catheter antennas for microwave interstitial hyperthermia treatment of cancer, the application of transcatheter microwave ablation for treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, and the use of noninvasive wireless technology for sensing of human vital signs and blood pressure pulse waves. The paper concludes with some observations on research and other endeavors in the interdisciplinary field of bioelectromagnetics.

Mental process in humans and exposure to cell-phone radiation

“…A slight temperature rise in brain tissue was noted by the investigators. As mentioned previously [11], the speed of propagation of nerve impulses is known to rise-or fall, in the case of conduction latencywith small increases in temperature: 0.3 and 0.6 • C. Thus, the increase in responsiveness or decrease in choice reaction time of human volunteers is consistent with the effects of mild localized heating of the underlying nervous tissue.…”

Microwave‐Induced Shape‐Memory Effect of Chemically Crosslinked Moist Poly(vinyl alcohol) Networks

“…The remote actuation allows for the possibility of implantable devices that can be actuated by an external thermal resource, opening the possibility for an entirely new class of SMP devices such as tissue scaffolds. [27,28] Considering the extensive applications of PVA to medical devices, the promising SME of SM-PVA, and especially the unique properties of MWs, [29][30][31] we speculate that MW induced SM-PVA will have great potential for applications, in particular, in those fields that direct contact between the heating source and the heated material is not allowed and remote-controlled actuators are required, such as MW responsive sensors, vascular stents, and other medical devices. [8,32,33] Experimental Section…”

Effects of 900 MHz electromagnetic fields exposure on cochlear cells' functionality in rats: Evaluation of distortion product otoacoustic emissions

“…The ear and its function, due to the proximity to the electromagnetic field source, could be the first biological target of interactions. The ''microwave hearing'' effect is a broadly accepted phenomenon, by which radar-like RF pulses can be perceived as auditory sensation [Frey, 1962;UNEP/WHO/IRPA, 1993;Lin, 2002Lin, , 2004Elder and Chou, 2003]. Such perception arises from the thermoelastic expansion of brain tissue [Foster and Fynch, 1974;Guy et al, 1975] as a consequence of a small and rapid increase of temperature, due to absorption of the incident radiation (peak incident power density around 300 mW/cm 2 in the frequency range of cellular phones' emissions); the expansion triggers an acoustic pressure wave conveyed to the cochlea by bone-conduction.…”