The effect of antenna polarization and body morphology on the measurement uncertainty of a wearable multi-band distributed exposure meter

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of antenna polarization on measurement uncertainty of a multi-band body-worn distributed exposure meter (BWDM). The BWDM is a device for assessing electromagnetic fields in real environments accurately. The BWDM consists of 8 nodes and is calibrated on body for simultaneous measurement of the incident power density

Instruments to measure environmental and personal radiofrequency-electromagnetic field exposures: an update

“…Wi-Fi Radiation Meter™ (Sigint Solutions Ltd, Nicosia, Cyprus) is a smart phone (Android)-based app that measures RF-EMF exposure (i.e., power density or electric field intensity) from Wi-Fi access points at 2.4 GHz and 5.2 GHz [23,24]. The app is freely available for public download (free and paid versions) via Google Play [20]. Figure 1c shows a screenshot of Wi-Fi Radiation Meter™ app showing Wi-Fi measurements.…”

“…Researchers from Belgium have developed and tested a personal distributed exposimeter (PDE) or body-worn distributed exposure meter (BWDM) with multiple textile antennas that can be fitted into a garment [ 20 , 44 , 45 ]. In addition, they have also developed a helmet-fitted exposimeter with antennas attached into a helmet that was specially designed to measure RF-EMF exposure to the head [ 46 ].…”

“…In addition, they have also developed a helmet-fitted exposimeter with antennas attached into a helmet that was specially designed to measure RF-EMF exposure to the head [ 46 ]. However, the PDE/BWDM and the helmet-fitted exposimeters are not yet commercially available and were only used for pilot or validation studies [ 20 , 46 ]. A recent study [ 44 ] describes personal RF-EMF exposure measurement surveys in five European countries.…”

“…Since RF-EMF exposure as a result of mobile phone usage is a major part of the total RF-EMF exposure (brain and whole body) to humans [ 72 ], these tools can contribute to characterise exposure-related to mobile phones, tablets/iPads, or other near-body RF-EMF emitting telecommunication technologies. A major challenge for mobile phone-based apps has been to quantify Tx power from mobile phone handsets, which is much larger than Rx from mobile phone base station/Wi-Fi routers [ 20 ]. It is therefore be expected that the development and deployment of the DEVIN device should be able to address this challenge.…”

“…Epidemiological studies have often relied on subjective and less precise methods of exposure assessment both in terms of exposure estimation and classification of participants of studies into exposed or non-exposed populations [ 14 , 15 ]. For example, using ‘distance from the nearest base station’ as a measure of RF-EMF exposure [ 16 ]; or self-reported weekly number and/or duration of calls made or received on a mobile phone as a measure of mobile phone handset related personal RF-EMF exposure [ 17 , 18 ].With the development and utilisation of more sophisticated RF-EMF exposure assessment tools in recent years, this challenge has been partly addressed [ 15 , 19 , 20 ]. Since the type of exposure assessment tool(s) and associated methodology used in human epidemiological studies affect their validity, appropriate use of RF-EMF exposure assessment tool remains an important issue.…”