A high-efficiency waveguide applicator for in vitro exposure of mammalian cells at 1.95 GHz

A standardized exposure device for a set of in vitro bioelectromagnetic experiments, to be carried out in different laboratories under strictly standardized exposure conditions, was designed and tested on the basis of efficiency and field uniformity criteria. In particular, a WR-430 waveguide was chosen in order to expose mammalian cells cultures at 1.95 GHz. The cells could be exposed in either one, two, or four 35-mm Petri dishes filled with 3-mL samples. Numerical and experimental dosimetry was carried out in order to assess the optimum orientation and positioning of the circular Petri dishes inside the simple waveguide chamber, obtaining very satisfactory performances of the system when the electric field is parallel to the sample. The efficiency and the nonuniformity degree simulated were successfully verified through measurements of the scattering parameters and local temperature increases.