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Bioelectric background fields and their implications for ELF dosimetry
Author(s) -
Wachtel Howard
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
bioelectromagnetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.435
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-186X
pISSN - 0197-8462
DOI - 10.1002/bem.2250130713
Subject(s) - harmonics , extracellular , physics , sine wave , fourier analysis , magnetic field , biophysics , neuroscience , anatomy , nuclear magnetic resonance , biology , fourier transform , microbiology and biotechnology , quantum mechanics , voltage
Electrically active cells, such as those comprising nerve, muscle, or bone, produce ELF currents not only across themselves but also in the surrounding tissue including the tight extracellular spaces between cells. An analysis based on “cable models” of neurons or muscle cells is herein used to estimate those extracellular (or “pericellular”) current densities. In order to explore frequency bands the neural or muscle action potentials are represented by a Fourier series of sine wave components. The results of this analysis suggest that endogenous currents in, or near, nerve and muscle are far stronger (higher density) than currents likely induced by exogenous ELF fields—such as 1 μT, 60 Hz magnetic fields. This holds true even for “higher harmonics” including those at or near 60 Hz.