Investigating Thermal Cooling Mechanisms of Human Body Under Exposure to Electromagnetic Radiation

Abstract: Thermal cooling mechanisms of human exposed to electromagnetic (EM) radiation are studied in detail. The electromagnetic and thermal co-simulation method is utilized to calculate the electromagnetic and temperature distributions. Moreover, Pennes' bioheat equation is solved to understand different thermal cooling mechanisms including blood flow, convective cooling and radiative cooling separately or jointly. Numerical results demonstrate the characteristics and functions for each cooling mechanism. Different from the traditional view that the cooling effect of blood is usually reflected by its influence on sweat secretion and evaporation, our study indicates that the blood flow itself is an important factor of thermal cooling especially for high-intensity EM radiation. This work contributes to fundamental understanding of thermal cooling mechanisms of human.