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Exposure measurement platform for electromagnetic field monitoring and epidemiological research

  • Marco Zahner

    Marco Zahner received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering and information technology from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, in 2008 and 2011, respectively and concluded his Ph.D. at the Institute of Electromagnetic Fields at ETH Zurich. His research interests include wireless communication, RF & microwave systems and technology, and its applications in medicine and biology.

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    , Jürg Fröhlich

    Jürg Fröhlich received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland, in 1990 and 1997, respectively. In 1998, he was with the Institute of Operations Research, University of Zurich, Zurich, where he developed a simulation platform for multistage stochastic programming problems. In 2000, he joined the Foundation for Research on Information Technologies in Society (IT’IS), Zurich, where he was a Project Leader for computational tools, dosimetry and risk assessment. From November 2005 to 2014, he led the Group for Electromagnetics in Medicine and Biology at the Laboratory of Fields and Waves, ETH. The research activities led to the founding of different Spin-Off companies where he is now involved. His research activities cover applications of electromagnetics in medical technologies, computational tools for electromagnetics, and technology and risk assessment of wireless technologies.

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    and Juerg Leuthold

    Juerg Leuthold was born in 1966 in Switzerland. He received the Ph.D. degree in physics from ETH Zürich with a research in integrated optics and all-optical communications. From 1999 to 2004, he was with Bell Labs, and Lucent Technologies, Holmdel, USA, where he has been performing device and system research with III/V semiconductor and silicon optical bench materials for applications in high-speed telecommunications. From 2004 to 2013, he was a Full Professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, where he was the Head of the Institute of Photonics and Quantum Electronics and the Helmholtz Institute of Microtechnology. Since 2013, he has been a Full Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

Published/Copyright: February 8, 2018

Abstract

Exposimetry of electromagnetic fields refers to a measurement technology aiming to quantify the immission or absorption of fields and/or energy in specific ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum. Portable, small and accurate measurement instruments were developed to provide tools for epidemiological research and environmental monitoring. The target measurement quantity was the average amount of RMS field strength that an average individual will experience in everyday environments. This quantity can be used to classify different groups of the population or to track changes in exposure conditions within defined regions or along specified tracks. Methods and tools for the assessment of the personal exposure to low-frequency magnetic fields (LF-MF), radio frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) and pulsed RF emissions from radar installations have been developed, characterized, and tested. The result is a measurement platform enabling a large variety of measurement procedures and study protocols.

Zusammenfassung

Exposimetrie von elektromagnetischen Feldern bezeichnet eine Messtechnologie mit dem Ziel, die Immission oder Absorption von Feldern und / oder Energie in spezifischen Bereichen des elektromagnetischen Spektrums zu quantifizieren. Es wurden kleine, tragbare und präzise Messgeräte entwickelt, welche als Werkzeug für epidemiologische Forschung und dem Umweltmonitoring dienen. Die Messgrösse ist die durchschnittliche RMS-Feldstärkeexposition von Einzelpersonen in Alltagssituationen. Diese Messgrösse kann dazu verwendet werden, um Bevölkerungsgruppen zu klassifizieren oder um Veränderungen in der Exposition innerhalb definierter Gebiete oder Routen zu verfolgen. Methoden und Werkzeuge für die Erfassung der persönlichen Feldstärkeexposition gegenüber niederfrequenten magnetischen Feldern (ELF-MF), hochfrequenten elektromagnetische Feldern (RF-EMF) und gepulsten RF-Aussendungen von Radaranlagen wurden entwickelt, charakterisiert und getestet. Das Resultat ist eine Messplattform, die eine Vielfalt von Messabläufen und Studienprotokollen ermöglicht.

About the authors

Marco Zahner

Marco Zahner received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering and information technology from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, in 2008 and 2011, respectively and concluded his Ph.D. at the Institute of Electromagnetic Fields at ETH Zurich. His research interests include wireless communication, RF & microwave systems and technology, and its applications in medicine and biology.

Jürg Fröhlich

Jürg Fröhlich received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland, in 1990 and 1997, respectively. In 1998, he was with the Institute of Operations Research, University of Zurich, Zurich, where he developed a simulation platform for multistage stochastic programming problems. In 2000, he joined the Foundation for Research on Information Technologies in Society (IT’IS), Zurich, where he was a Project Leader for computational tools, dosimetry and risk assessment. From November 2005 to 2014, he led the Group for Electromagnetics in Medicine and Biology at the Laboratory of Fields and Waves, ETH. The research activities led to the founding of different Spin-Off companies where he is now involved. His research activities cover applications of electromagnetics in medical technologies, computational tools for electromagnetics, and technology and risk assessment of wireless technologies.

Juerg Leuthold

Juerg Leuthold was born in 1966 in Switzerland. He received the Ph.D. degree in physics from ETH Zürich with a research in integrated optics and all-optical communications. From 1999 to 2004, he was with Bell Labs, and Lucent Technologies, Holmdel, USA, where he has been performing device and system research with III/V semiconductor and silicon optical bench materials for applications in high-speed telecommunications. From 2004 to 2013, he was a Full Professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, where he was the Head of the Institute of Photonics and Quantum Electronics and the Helmholtz Institute of Microtechnology. Since 2013, he has been a Full Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

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Received: 2017-9-15
Revised: 2017-12-4
Accepted: 2018-1-3
Published Online: 2018-2-8
Published in Print: 2018-5-25

© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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