Experimental and Theoretical Determination of Absorbed Microwave Dose Rate Distributions in Phantom Heads Irradiated by an Aperture Source

Abstract

A thermographic technique is used to determine absorbed microwave energy distribution in phantom monkey and human heads irradiated by an aperture source. The phantom heads are brain equivalent tissue spheres and a bone and brain tissue geometric model of a monkey head. The results of the experiment are compared to patterns obtained from theoretical calculations, indicating good general agreement between experimental and theoretical data. The penetration of microwave energy is less for the phantom human head than for the monkey head. The overall poor penetration of the radiation due to the 2450 MHz aperture source used in this experiment indicates a need for further research using frequency and aperture dimensions as parameters to obtain desired microwave absorption patterns for both biological experiments and therapeutic applications.