Monte-Carlo calculation of electrically induced human-body currents

A method is described for calculating the charges and currents induced in the human body by high-voltage alternating electric fields. This relates the surface charge induced on the body to the potential in a reciprocal Laplace problem, which is then calculated by a Monte-Carlo random-walk technique. The method is applied to an experimental geometry used to study the effect of electric fields on cardiac pacemakers. Induced charges and currents for several different body configurations are calculated. Calibration factors are also derived to correct the measured currents for the effect of the walls of the test area and the nonuniformity of the applied electric field. The solutions show good agreement with the magnitude of the total induced charge and its distribution over the body surface, as estimated in other experimental and computational work.