Computation of SAR in the simplified model of a pregnant woman exposed to RF radiation from 10 MHz to 1800 MHz

The pregnant woman model is particularly complex structure involving numerous tissues with different electrical parameters. Such complex structures are generally handled by numerical methods implemented in simulation software packages. The structures involving high discretization density (mainly based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging and handled by Finite Difference Time Domain method) consume tremendously high computational resources. On the other hand, oversimplified numerical models, with coarser segmentation, will inevitably generate less accurate results. The aim of this study was to develop a simplified 3D model of a pregnant woman with the reasonable tradeoff between computing demands and result accuracy. The exposure to the plane wave and short antenna was examined and the SAR distribution, peak localized 10g-averaged SAR and volume-averaged SAR were determined in a broad frequency range (from 10 MHz to 1800 MHz). The results were compared with relevant exposure limits defined by ICNIRP. The simulations were carried out using available commercial simulation software based on the Finite Element Method (FEKO) and the Finite Difference Time Domain Method (SEMCAD X).