Numerical Electromagnetics

The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method has been used extensively over the last decade for bioelectromagnetic dosimetry – numerical assessment of electromagnetic fields coupled to biological bodies [Gandhi; Lin & Gandhi]. Values of interest in these assessments include induced current or current density and specific absorption rate (SAR), which is a measure of absorbed power in the body. The FDTD algorithm is extremely simple and efficient, which has made it one of the most versatile numerical methods for bioelectromagnetic simulations. It is particularly well suited to these applications because it can efficiently model the heterogeneity of the human body with high resolution (often on the order of 1mm), can model anisotropy and frequency-dependent properties as needed, and can easily model a wide variety of sources coupled to the body. It has been used to analyze whole-body or partial-body exposures to spatially uniform (far field) or non-uniform (near-field) sources. These sources may be sinusoidally varying (continuous wave (CW) ) or time-varying such as those from an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). The FDTD method has been used for applications over an extremely wide range of frequencies, from 60 Hz through 6 GHz, and also for broad-band applications. This paper describes several of these applications, and some of the details of how the FDTD method is applied to bioelectromagnetic simulations.

Publications

To Learn More:

ECE 5340/6340 Numerical Electromagnetics

Math 5600,5610,5620 Numerical Methods

ME 5510,7540 Finite Elements

Geol/Geoph 5250 Inversion Theory

Thank you to our Sponsors:

National Science Foundation

Utah Center of Excellence Program

Last revised: August 2007

For more information, contact Dr. Cynthia Furse