Fractional calculus based FDTD modeling of layered biological media exposure to wideband electromagnetic pulses

Electromagnetic fields are involved in several therapeutic and diagnostic applications such as hyperthermia and electroporation. For these applications, pulsed electric fields (PEFs) and transient phenomena are playing a key role for understanding the biological response due to the exposure to non-ionizing wideband pulses. To this end, the PEF propagation in the six-layered planar structure modeling the human head has been studied. The electromagnetic field and the specific absorption rate (SAR) have been calculated through an accurate finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) dispersive modeling based on the fractional derivative operator. The temperature rise inside the tissues due to the electromagnetic field exposure has been evaluated using both the non-thermoregulated and thermoregulated Gagge's two-node models. Moreover, additional parametric studies have been carried out with the aim to investigate the thermal response by changing the amplitude and duration of the electric pulses.