Estimation of induced currents in the human body exposed to non-uniform ELF electric fields

Summary

Induced currents in a numerical human body model by electric fields have often been calculated. However, most of the results were calculated under uniform fields, few results under realistic non-uniform fields, such as in a substation, have been reported. We have already revealed that in-situ electric fields in the brain are strongly associated with the induced currents, even in the case of exposure to non-uniform electric fields. If the relation between induced currents in the body and ambient non-uniform fields can be understood, detailed in-situ electric fields in nerve system tissues such as the brain could possibly be estimated by measuring the ambient non-uniform fields. In the present paper, to estimate currents induced in the neck of a human body in non-uniform electric fields, we calculated the induced currents numerically by considering non-uniform fields that are distorted by a rectangular conductor (0.5 × 0.5 × h m) under a uniform electric field of 1 kV/m at 60 Hz. In this situation, we investigated the relationship between the induced currents and the averaged non-uniform electric fields (Eavg) at three points from the ground with no human represent, as recommended by IEC 62110. Calculated results shows that the induced currents in the neck can be approximately estimated by using a distance between the conductor and the human model, regardless of h. This indicates that in-situ electric fields in the brain can be estimated by the measured Eavg.

Additional informations

Authors

Simard, Badicu Laurentiu-Viorel, Khodaei, Broniecki Ulrike, Umemoto Takahiro, Watanabe