Thermoregulatory physiologic responses in the human body exposed to microwave radiation

Abstract

By introduction of an additional compartment in the hypothalamic region Stolwijk's thermo‐regulatory model has been modified to consider partial heating due to hot spots induced by microwaves. It was found that because of thermoregulatory action, the temperature of the hypothalamus will not increase drastically until the rate of energy deposition exceeds the threshold level of about 50 mW/g. The primary controlling mechanisms are blood flow and sweating. For an energy deposition rate of 10 mW/g in the hypothalamus the increase in blood flow in the skin is negligible and the temperature rise of the hypothalamus as compared with blood temperature is about 0.5 °C. It was found that exposure of the head to electromagnetic radiation, in general, causes a decrease in temperature of the trunk and skin. The results show that while the deposition of energy in the hypothalamus at the rate of 10 mW/g produced significant conductive and convective effects, the same total energy uniformly distributed over the cranial cavity produces less significant effects.