Dielectric properties of tissues as a

function of age and their relevance in

assessment of the exposure of children to
electromagnetic fields;

State of knowledge

Azadeh Peyman
Physical Dosimetry Department
Radiation Protection Division
Health Protection Agency, UK
Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards
Outline

 Background

 The age related dielectric studies

 Relation to dosimetry
 Dielectric Behavior of Tissues

Dielectric properties of Pig Liver

1.E+08

1.E+06  Permittivity
1.E+04 

1.E+02

1.E+00 Conductivity (S/m)

1.E-02
1.E+01 1.E+03 1.E+05 1.E+07 1.E+09 1.E+11
Frequency(Hz)
Intrinsic properties of matter
Determine the interaction with EMF
Biological tissues are not uniquely characterised
•Heterogeneous
n i
•Sampling and handling ˆ   (1n)

•Uncertainty n 1( jn ) j0
 Systematic Change in The
Dielectric Behaviour

• Temperature
• Intactness of cell membrane
• Direction of E field with respect to the fibrous
materials
• Water content
0C 5C 20C 25C 30C 0C 5C 20C 25C 30C
100 50

80 40

Loss Factor
Permittivity

60 30

40 20

20 10

0 0
0.1 1 10 100 0.1 1 10 100
Frequency (GHz) Frequency (GHz)
 Systematic Change in The
Dielectric Behaviour

Fresh Mashed
Fresh Mashed
1.E+08
1
1.E+07

Conductivity (S/m)
1.E+06
Permittivity

1.E+05
0.1
1.E+04
1.E+03
1.E+02 banana banana
0.01
1.E+01
1.E+01 1.E+02 1.E+03 1.E+04 1.E+05 1.E+06 1.E+07
1.E+01 1.E+02 1.E+03 1.E+04 1.E+05 1.E+06 1.E+07
Frequency(Hz)
Frequency(Hz)

Parallel Transverse Parallel Transverse

1.E+08 1

Conductivity (S/m)
1.E+07
1.E+06
Permittivity

1.E+05
1.E+04
1.E+03
1.E+02
1.E+01 ovine muscle ovine muscle
1.E+00 0.1
1.E+01 1.E+02 1.E+03 1.E+04 1.E+05 1.E+06 1.E+07 1.E+01 1.E+02 1.E+03 1.E+04 1.E+05 1.E+06 1.E+07
Applications of Dielectric Data
in Dosimetry

 Different dispersions give information about the status

of the tissue under the influence of the external
electric field
• Experimental assessment of human exposure from electromagnetic
sources
• Dielectric properties of various tissues needed to determine (SAR)
in models of animals and human
State of Knowledge
1996 Dielectric Database

• Gabriel et al. 1996 assessed the state of knowledge in terms of the

dielectric properties of tissues over ten frequency decades
(Gabriel C, Gabriel S and Corthout E 1996a The dielectric properties of biological tissues: I. Literature survey
Phys.Med.Biol. 41 2231-2249)

• They carried out an experimental study on a large number of

biological tissues using 3 different measurement techniques
spanning the frequency range 10Hz - 20GHz
(Gabriel S, Lau R W and Gabriel C 1996b The dielectric properties of biological tissues: II. Measurements in the frequency
range of 10Hz to 20GHz Phys.Med.Biol. 41 2251-2269)

• Finally, Gabriel et al 1996 used their experimental data,

complemented by the data surveyed from the literature, to develop a
parametric model to describe the variation of dielectric properties of
tissues as a function of frequency
(Gabriel S, Lau R W and Gabriel C 1996c The dielectric properties of biological tissues: III. Parametric models for the
dielectric spectrum of tissues Phys.Med.Biol. 41 2271-2293)

• The main source of tissue dielectric data in the last decade, extensively
used by scientific community specially in dosimetric studies
1996 Database;
Literature Review

1.0E+08
1.0E+07 Liver
1.0E+06 Liver
Permittivity

1.0E+05
1.0E+04
1.0E+03
1.0E+02
1.0E+01
1.E+01 1.E+03 1.E+05 1.E+07 1.E+09 1.E+11
Frequency (Hz)
Porcine & Bovine @ 37 degC,Osswald, 1937 Canine @ 37 degC,Stoy et al, 1982
Rabbit @ 37 degC,Stoy et al,1982 Bovine @ 25 degC,Surowiec et al, 1985
Calf @ 25 degC,Rigaud et al, 1994 Porcine (In vivo) @ 34-36 degC,Hahn et al, 1980
Rabbit @ 25 degC,Smith & Foster, 1985 Feline (In vivo) @ 34.8 degC ±0.8 degC,Surowiec et al,1986
Human @ 36.8 degC ±0.2 degC,Surowiec et al, 1987 Rat (In vivo) @ 32 degC ±1 degC,Kraszewski et al, 1982
Feline (In vivo) @ 36 degC,Kraszewski et al, 1982 Canine @ 20 degC ±1 degC,Xu et al, 1987
Human @ 23-25 degC,Joines et al, 1994 Rabbit @ 25 degC, Smith et al, 1986
1996 Database;
Experimental Measurements

1.0E+08
1.0E+07
Liver
1.0E+06
Permittivity

1.0E+05
1.0E+04
1.0E+03
1.0E+02
1.0E+01
1.E+01 1.E+03 1.E+05 1.E+07 1.E+09 1.E+11
Frequency (Hz)

Literature data
Gabriel et al 1996, Ovine 37degC
1996 Database;
4 Term Cole-Cole Model

1.E+08
1.E+07 Liver
1.E+06
1.E+05
Permittivity

1.E+04
1.E+03
1.E+02
1.E+01
1.E+00
1.E+01 1.E+03 1.E+05 1.E+07 1.E+09 1.E+11
Frequency (Hz)

Literature data
Gabriel et al 1996, Ovine 37degC
1996 Database;
Literature Review

1.0E+02
Liver
Conductivity(S/m)

1.0E+01

1.0E+00

1.0E-01

1.0E-02
1.E+01 1.E+03 1.E+05 1.E+07 1.E+09 1.E+11
Frequency (Hz)
Porcine & Bovine @ 37 degC,Osswald, 1937 Canine @ 37 degC,Stoy et al, 1982
Rabbit @ 37 degC,Stoy et al,1982 Bovine @ 25 degC,Surowiec et al, 1985
Calf @ 25 degC,Rigaud et al, 1994 Porcine (In vivo) @ 34-36 degC,Hahn et al, 1980
Rabbit @ 25 degC,Smith & Foster, 1985 Feline (In vivo) @ 34.8 degC ±0.8 degC,Surowiec et al,1986
Human @ 36.8 degC ±0.2 degC,Surowiec et al, 1987 Rat (In vivo) @ 32 degC ±1 degC,Kraszewski et al, 1982
Feline (In vivo) @ 36 degC,Kraszewski et al, 1982 Canine @ 20 degC ±1 degC,Xu et al, 1987
Human @ 23-25 degC,Joines et al, 1994 Rabbit @ 25 degC, Smith et al, 1986
1996 Database;
Experimental Measurements

1.0E+02
Liver
Conductivity(S/m)

1.0E+01

1.0E+00

1.0E-01

1.0E-02
1.E+01 1.E+03 1.E+05 1.E+07 1.E+09 1.E+11
Frequency (Hz)

Literature data
Gabriel et al 1996, Ovine 37degC
1996 Database;
4 Term Cole-Cole Model

1.E+02
Liver
Conductivity(S/m)

1.E+01

1.E+00

1.E-01

1.E-02
1.E+01 1.E+03 1.E+05 1.E+07 1.E+09 1.E+11
Frequency (Hz)
Literature data
Gabriel et al 1996, Ovine 37degC
Gabriel et al 1996 M odel
 Post 1996 Database

• A decade on, fresh dielectric study carried out as part of Mobile Telecommunication
Health Research Program (MTHR).

• A literature review of all relevant papers published in the past decade (after 1996, 43
studies pertaining to different frequency regions , tissue-types, purposes).

• Obtaining, analysing and making available extensive, novel, experimental data acquired
from measurement in-vivo.

• The recent study has consolidated and added to the knowledge in several important
respects.
– 58 tissues
– 21 pigs in total
– 3 surgical positions
– At least 6 animals for each tissue
– At least 6 measurements per animal

All the measurements on porcine tissues were carried out by DSTL in their premises
Results: Grey Matter

130
T h is s tu d y (in -v iv o )
G a b r ie l e t a l 1 9 9 6 , in -v itr o
110 B a o e t a l 1 9 9 7 (r a t in -v itr o )
S c h m id e t a l 2 0 0 3 (h u m a n in -v itr o )
S c h m id e t a l 2 0 0 3 (p o r c in e in -v iv o )
B u r d e tt e t a l 1 9 8 6 (C a n in e p ia m a tte r in -s itu )
90 F o s te r e t a l 1 9 7 9 , (C a n in e in -v itr o )
Permittivity

B u r d e tt e t a l 1 9 8 6 (a b o v e p ia m a tte r in -v iv o )
B u r d e tt e t a l 1 9 8 6 (b e lo w p ia m a tte r in -v iv o )
70

50

30

10
1 .E + 0 7 1 .E + 0 8 1 .E + 0 9 1 .E + 1 0 1 .E + 1 1
F re q u e n c y (H z )

In - v iv o In - v it r o
130 25

Conductivity (S/m
110 20
Permittivity

90
15
70
10
50
30 5

10 0
1 .E + 0 7 1 .E + 0 8 1 .E + 0 9 1 .E + 1 0 1 .E + 1 1
Results: Bone

75
T hi s s tud y (5 0 k g p ig s k u ll, i n-v iv o )
65 T hi s s tud y ( 2 5 0 k g p ig s k u ll, i n-v iv o )
G ab rie l e t a l,1 9 9 6 ( S he e p , c anc e llo us b on e )
55
G ab rie l e t a l, 1 9 9 6 (S h e e p, c o r tic al b o ne )
Permi ttivity

45

35

25

15

5
1 . E +0 7 1 . E +0 8 1 .E + 0 9 1 . E +1 0 1 . E +1 1
Fre q u e n cy (Hz)

100
T his s tudy (50k g pi g skull)
Conductivity (S/m)

T his s tudy( 250 kg pig sk ul l)

10 G abri el e t a l,19 96 (She e p, ca nce llous bone )
G abri el e t a l, 19 96 (S he e p, c or ti cal bone )
1

0.1

0.01
1.E+07 1.E+08 1.E+09 1.E+10 1.E+11
F requenc y (Hz)
Another Interesting Outcome

M a m m a r y fa t (1 ) M a m m a r y fa t (2 ) M a m m a r y G la n d
100
80
Permittivity

60

40
20

0
1 .E +0 7 1 .E +0 8 1 .E +0 9 1 .E +1 0 1 .E +1 1
F re q u e n c y (Hz )

M a m m a ry fa t (1 ) M a m m a ry fa t (2 ) M a m m a ry G la n d
100
Conductivity (S/m)

10

0.1

0.01
1.E+07 1.E+08 1.E+09 1.E+10 1.E+11
Uncertainty Analysis

• Systematic statistical and comparative analyses on large

amount of experimental data

• Identification and quantification of the main sources of

experimental error

• Development of a procedure to estimate the total

uncertainty in dielectric data

Gabriel C and Peyman A 2006 Dielectric measurement: error analysis and assessment
of uncertainty Phys. Med. Biol. 51 (2006) 6033–6046
Summary of New Dielectric
Data

• The results of recent dielectric studies are comparable to the 1996 data
base for most of the tissues ( brain and abdominal tissues)

• In the case of skeletal tissues, the large numbers of independent

dielectric measurements on both skull and long bone of different pigs
show generally higher values than those reported in the Gabriel et al
1996 data base.

• These high values could be due to the differences in the species and
the age of the animals used in this study and others.

• The recent study shows that the differences between the in-vivo and in-
vitro measured dielectric properties of tissues are not systematic at
microwave frequencies

• New dielectric data are now available for tissues such as: lymph node,
mammary glands, Diaphragm, Uterine Horn, Thymus gland, Salivary
glands, Urine
Dielectric Properties of Tissues;
Variation With Age

Children might be more vulnerable

Differences between the dielectric parameters of biological tissue
in children and adults
(Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones report, 2000,UK)

2001: Rodents, High frequency study 200 MHz - 20 GHz

• Newborn, 10, 20, 30, 50, and 70 days old rats
• Brain, muscle, skull, skin, salivary glands, tongue and eyes

2003: Rodents, Intermediate frequency 300 kHz - 1 GHz

• 10, 20, 30, 50, and 70 days old rats

2003: Porcine, MTHR study, High Frequency 50MHz-20GHz

• 10kg, 50kg and 250 kg pigs, 17 tissues
 Results of Rodent Study

10days 70 days
10days 70 days
1.E+04 100
1.E+03 10

Brain

Conductivity (S/m)
1.E+03

Conductivity (S/m)
10
Permittivity

Permittivity
1.E+02 1
1.E+02

1
1.E+01 1.E+01 0.1

1.E+00 0.1
Skull
1.E+00 0.01
1.E+05 1.E+06 1.E+07 1.E+08 1.E+09 1.E+10 1.E+11
1.E+05 1.E+06 1.E+07 1.E+08 1.E+09 1.E+10 1.E+11
Frequency (Hz)
Frequency (Hz)

10days 70 days
%decrease in % decrease in
1.E+04 100 permittivity conductivity
Liver 900MHz 1800MHz 900MHz 1800MHz
Conductivity (S/m)

1.E+03
Brain 7.9 8.2 16.3 13.5
Permittivity

10

1.E+02 Skull 31.0 31.2 42.5 32.9

Skin 11.9 11.7 20.5 10.7
1
1.E+01
Changes in dielectric data of different
tissues from 30 to 70 days in rat
1.E+00 0.1
1.E+05 1.E+06 1.E+07 1.E+08 1.E+09 1.E+10 1.E+11
Frequency (Hz)

Peyman A, Rezazadeh AA and Gabriel C, 2001, “Changes in the dielectric properties of rat tissue as a function of age at
 Results of Porcine Study

Systematic age-related effect

observed No age-related effect
• White matter • Grey Matter
• Dura • Tongue
• Spinal cord • Cornea
• Bone (cortical) • Mammary fat
• Skull
• Intervertebral disc
• Intervertebral disc centre No difference between in-vivo and
• Bone marrow in-vitro at microwave frequencies
• Fat
• Skin
Peyman A, Holden S J and Gabriel C, 2007, Dielectric Properties of Porcine Cerebrospinal Tissues at Microwave
Frequencies; In-vivo, In-vitro and Systematic Variation With Age, Phys. Med. Biol. 52 (2007) 2229-2245
Peyman A, Holden S and Gabriel C, 2009 Dielectric Properties of Porcine Skeletal Tissues at Microwave Frequencies; In-
 Results: Brain Tissues

~250kg ~50kg ~10kg

140
120 Grey matter
Permittivity

100
80
60
40
20
1 .E + 0 7 1 .E + 0 8 1 .E + 0 9 1 .E + 1 0 1 .E + 1 1
F re q u e n c y (H z )

~250kg ~50kg ~10kg The differences

90 between the two
White matter
Permittivity

70 extremes are of the

50
order, or in excess,
of three times the
30
measurement
10 uncertainty
1 .E + 0 7 1 .E + 0 8 1 .E + 0 9 1 .E + 1 0 1 .E + 1 1
 Results: Skull

~250kg ~50kg ~10kg

80
70
60
Permittivity

50
40 At 900MHz:
30
20
10
%decrease in
0 permittivity and
1 .0 E + 0 7 1 .0 E + 0 8 1 .0 E + 0 9 1 .0 E + 1 0 1 .0 E + 1 1
F re q u e n c y (H z )
conductivity values
when animal aged
~250kg ~50kg ~10kg
10
from 10kg to 250kg
are 54.3 and 65.9%
Conductivity(S/m

respectively
1

0.1
1.E +07 1.E +08 1.E +09 1.E +10 1.E +11
 Results: Bone marrow

~250kg ~50kg ~10kg

100

80
Permittivity

60
At 900MHz:
40

20
%decrease in
0
permittivity and
1.E+07 1.E+08 1.E+09 1.E+10 1.E+11
Frequency (Hz) conductivity values
~250kg ~50kg ~10kg
when animal aged
100 from 10kg to 250kg
are 79.8% and
Conductivity(S/m)

10
90.2% respectively
1

0.1

0.01
1.E+07 1.E+08 1.E+09 1.E+10 1.E+11
Why?

• For white matter and spinal cord

– Increased myelination
– High lipid and low water content of myelin.
– Decreased water content as a function of age
– MRI scans of infant brains differ from scans in later childhood
primarily because of the much higher water content and a much lower
myelin deposition in infant brains (Peterson and Ment 2001).

• For bone tissues

– Variations in the amount of water due to changes in the degree of
mineralisation of the calcified bone matrix.
– During mineralisation of the osteoid, water is gradually replaced by
calcium apatite, which fills the volume previously occupied by water,
Bone Marrow

In the young animals the marrow is mostly red and as the

animal grows older, the marrow acquires a higher fat content
and hence a yellow colour.

In the adult most bones contain yellow marrow and red marrow
is limited to the spongy bone in the skull, ribs, sternum,
clavicles, vertebrae and pelvis.

Normal adult bone marrow contains an age-related proportion

of fat cells (This can be up to 60% fat in rib and vertebra and
over 80% in femur).

The red bone marrow has higher water content compare to

yellow bone marrow, which contains fat cells, therefore
accounts for higher dielectric values in younger animals.
Cole-Cole parameters for ageing
tissue dielectric properties

Cole–Cole parameters for the dielectric properties of

porcine tissues as a function of age at microwave
Frequencies

Peyman A and Gabriel C, Phys. Med. Biol. 55 (2010) N1–N7

Sensitivity of SAR to Variation in
Dielectric Properties

• Can the extent of the finding be sufficient to affect the SAR

values?

• To the best of our knowledge three studies have so far used

dielectric properties as a function of age in their dosimetric
calculations.

– Alfadh et al 2003 and Gabriel 2005 ( Far field exposure, plane waves, rat
models)

– Peyman et al 2009 ( Near field exposure of children to walkie-talkie

devices)

– Christ et al 2010 (Near field exposure to handsets at 900 MHz and 1800
MHz)
 Sensitivity of SAR to Variation in
Dielectric Properties
(Far Field Exposure)

Plane Wave
• Model: Rat - Size equivalent to 10, 30 and 70 days old,
FDTD H E

• Frequency 27, 160, 400, 900 and 2000 MHz

• 34 Tissue-types ( 9 of them had variation with age)
y
• Changing the tissue dielectric properties:
• Affects the localised SAR but no clear pattern could be
established
• Affects the coupling with the body and the interaction of z
tissues with the electromagnetic fields.
• Dielectric properties of skin is an important factor in the
coupling efficiency and hence the intensity of the exposure
• It is important to isolate the effect of changing tissue
properties from all size and exposure parameters effects

Alfadh Y, Chiau CC, Wang Z, Chen X, Peyman A and Gabriel C, 2003, Numerical dosimetry on 10, 30 and 70 days
old rat models exposed to a wide range of frequencies and dielectric properties, ST-9 BEMS 25th Annual Meeting
Maui, Hawaii, USA
Gabriel C 2005 Review: Dielectric Properties of Tissues: Variation with Age , Bioelectromagnetics Supplement 7:S12-
 Sensitivity of SAR to Variation in
Dielectric Properties
(Near Field Exposure, Walkie-Talkie devices)
Ghent University, Belgium
• Frequency: 446MHz, effective radiated power (ERP):250 mW
• Phantoms represent Adult, 3 and 7 years old child
• Dielectric properties of10 kg pig (1-4 year old), 50 kg pig (11-13 years
old) and 250 kg pigs (adults) were used.
• Variation on SAR10gr are less than 10% for the investigated configuration
• The variation of the tissue properties are not really reflected in a
variation of SAR10gr
• Averaging of the SAR dilutes the effect of the change in the
SAR10gr
• Head tissues do not contribute equally in the averaging
volume
• Not all tissues in the averaging volume have the same
variation of the dielectric properties with age, in this case
only skin contributed to the variation within the 10gr cube.

Peyman A, Gabriel C, Grant EH, Vermeeren G and Martens L, 2009, Variation of the dielectric properties of tissues with age:
Sensitivity of SAR to Variation in
Dielectric Properties
(Near Field Exposure, Handset 900 and1800MHz)
IT'IS, Zurich

• 3 anatomical head models: Visible Human (VH),

3 and 7 year old children (3YC, 7YC)

• 16 tissue types @ 900MHz & 1800MHz, dielectric

properties of 10kg, 50kg and 250 kg pigs were
used.

• Generic dual band phone (900MHz and

1800MHz) with internal antenna

• SAR variations due to the age dependent

changes within ±30%

• The hypothesis that the dielectric parameters

results in larger exposure of young mobile
users could not be confirmed

• May be due to the fact that highest age

dependent variations occur in tissues with low
Age Dependent Tissue-Specific
Exposure

• Age dependencies of dielectric tissue properties do not

lead to systematic changes of the peak spatial SAR. This
is valid for all the configurations analyzed here (phone
models, positions, etc)

• The exposure of the bone marrow of children can

exceed that of adults by about a factor of ten. This is due
to the strong decrease in electric conductivity of this
tissue with age

Christ A, Gosselin MC, Christopoulou M, Kühn S and Kuster N 2010 Age-dependent tissue-specific
More Recent and Ongoing
Studies

• Increase interest in simulating the exposure of pregnant

women and their in-utero foetuses.
• In the absence of dielectric properties for pregnancy-specific
tissues, substitutes are used
– muscle (or blood) data for placenta
– cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for amniotic fluid.
• Dielectric properties of human placenta, umbilical cord and
amniotic fluid
– study completed and results are published

Peyman A, Gabriel C, Benedickter H R and Fröhlich J 2011 Dielectric properties of human

placenta, umbilical cord and amniotic fluid Phys. Med. Biol. 56 (2011) N93-N98.
Dielectric properties of pregnancy
associated tissues; Highlights of
results:

• Dielectric properties of placenta are higher than muscle and slightly

lower than blood; generally closer to blood than muscle

• The measured dielectric properties of umbilical cord, were higher than

those of placenta mainly due to the presence a thick and whitish high
water content substance called Wharton’s jelly which cannot be found
on any other part of human body.

• Strong temperature dependance of dielectric properties of amniotic

fluid
• Amniotic fluid has higher permittivity and lower conductivity compared
to those of CSF
More detailed analysis of the results will be presented at BEMS 2011,
Halifax
Ongoing Study

• Dielectric properties of rat foetus as a function of gestation

age final analysis of experimental data
–Data collection is completed
– Results will be presented at BEMS 2011, Halifax
Summary

• Numerical modelling tools have been improved over the last 20 years,
from coarse geometrical models to very high resolution models based
on real human imaging data.

• Measurements of dielectric properties of tissues are also moving

towards more in-detail information, expanding the number of tissues
defined in the models and taking into consideration the variation of data
with age.

• It is the matter of reassurance that the studies so far did not show any
significant differences in the calculated SAR values due to higher
conductivity values for younger tissues.

• However, in some cases, for instance single tissue exposure such as

bone marrow, the differences can not be neglected.