1182 IEEETRANSACTIONS

ONMICROWAVE
THEORY
ANDTECHNIQUES,
VOL.MTT-32,NO.9, SEPTEMOER
1984

History of Biological Effects and Medical

Applications of Microwave Energy
ARTHUR W. GUY, FELLOW, IEEE

.&tract —Thoughthis SpeciafIssueis devotedto the historyof micro- In the following year, d’Arsonval (Fig. 1), a physician–
waves,an appreciationof thehistoryof the interactionof microwaves
with physiologist with a strong professional interest in electrical
biologicalsystemswouldnot be completewithout also covering the role
engineering (one of the world’s early bioengineers), began
that lower frequencies have played in research directed toward the improve-
ment of human heafth. Licht [107] and Susskind [169] provide an excellent
research on measuring the electrophysiological activity in
history of the medical applications and biological effects of electromagnetic muscles and nerves, as well as the effect of low-frequency
energy at submicrowave frequencies. currents on muscles. In measuring the intensity of muscle
excitation as a function of frequency, he noticed that the
I. MEDICAL APPLICATIONS AT SUBMICROWAVE
excitation decreased until it was barely noticeable at 10
FREQUENCIES
kHz, the maximum attainable frequency of his source. He
T IS INTERESTING to note that it has only been was able to apply the high-frequency current to himself at
I within the last five years that heating tissue for control a high level without sensing anything but a warmth.
of cancer has become widely used in oncology clinics, D’Arsonval was looking for physiologic rather than ther-
hospitals, and cancer research centers. Yet, the first use of mal effects. Though the immediate sensation of the cur-
electric-field heating for control of cancer occurred only rents passing through his hands from large electrodes were
four decades after Volta, in 1800, described the electric pile nil, he found that after a period of time the skin was
[174]. This application of electric current for destroying flushed with increased sweating. He attributed this to
cancer through heat was demonstrated by Recamier and vasodilation rather than a heating reaction and wrote that
Pravaz in the destruction of uterine cancer [107]. In fact, the high-frequency currents would be a great service to
the practice became so widespread in the following few therapeutics, thinking in terms of direct effects on blood
years that Pichard [139], in 1846, called attention to its pressure and kidney output, rather than the indirect effect
over use. There was considerable competition in the mid- of heat. Continuing his work with equipment capable of
19th century between these early researchers for recogni- generating frequencies of several hundred Hertz, d’Arsonval
tion of being first to apply electricity for heating tissue. reported in 1891 that he could get no physiological effect
Becquerel [14] credited Fabre-Paloprat [44] for first bur- at all at frequencies above 10 kHz, and, in 1892, a paper he
ning tissue with an electrified platinum needle in 1830, but sent to the French Academie de Medecine was regarded so
Petrequin claimed to be the first to come up with the idea skeptically that it was nearly rejected (Fig, 2). To prove the
based on his reading a book on electropuncture published sound basis of his conclusions, d’Arsonval demonstrated
in 1823 [107]. the use of his apparatus (Fig. 3) in courses at the College
The early application of electricity to medicine named de France, Society of Electricians, to students, and finally
Galvanocautery, after Luigi Galvani, an 18th century ob- to an Academy of Sciences Commission. The recorder of
stetrician and surgeon in Bologna, for his work on chemi- the commission wrote in July 1893: .
cal effects of electric current, involved dc currents applied M. d’Arsonval has produced evidence before M. Marcy
directly to the tissue through needle, wire, or knife-type and myself of the principle results recorded in the previous
electrodes. The technique was reported to destroy tumors, note. We were particularly struck by an experiment in which
6 lamps (150 volts X 0.8 ampere) were made luminous by a
aneurysms, and fungoid growths, as well as to close fistu-
circuit formed by our arms, the circuit being derived from
Ias and to stop bleeding. It was actually the caustic effect
the ends of a solenoid induced by oscillating discharges.We
of the electricity in coagulating blood, rather than to
have not experienced the best sensationby the passageof the
heating effect, to which these early physicians attributed current flow to which we were submitted, while one could
the beneficial effects. Oscillatory sources soon became not doubt the enormous amount of energy which passedour
available through the work of Hehnholtz, Kelvin, and bodies (900 volts X0.8 ampere) equaling 720 watts or about 1
Hertz. Joubert, in the year 1889, demonstrated that when horsepower. It manifested itself either by the luminousness
the frequency of current applied to frog muscle was raised of the lamps or by lively and numerous sparks which were
to a certain level, it would not cause the muscle to contract. produced when the circuit was broken. The same amount of
energy would have sufficed to destroy us like lightening, but
Manuscript receivedMay 12, 1984. under the above given conditions it produced no appreciable
The author is with the BioelectromagneticsResearchLaboratory, Center sensation. [Speciaf d’Arsonval Jubilee issue of Archives of
for Bioengineenng, University of Washington, Seattle,WA. Physical Therapy, X-Ray, Radium, 1932.]

0018-9480/84/0900-1182$01.00 @1984 IEEE

GUY: HISTORY OF BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS AND MEDICAL APPLICATIONS OF MICROWAVE
ENERGY 1183

Fig. 3. DArsonval’s demonstration of the lack of sensationin passing

high-frequency current through the body sufficient for lighting in-
candescent lamps [88].

Fig. 1. Professor Arsene d’Arsonvaf (1813-1940). Physiologist and

pioneer in medical applications and biological effects of radiofrequency
energy [88].

Fig. 2. Startergeneratorassembled
by d’Arsonvalfor producinghigh- Fig. 4. DArsonvaf adjusting the spark gap of his improved high-
frequencycurrents [88]. frequencygenerator[88].

After using a better oscillator that he devised which Oudin as a collaborator in the clinical applications of
came to be widely used for medical purposes (Fig. 4), high-frequency currents in which a resonant coupled circuit
d’Arsonval, in 1893, reported there being no action on (Fig. 7) worked especially well; in addition to its medical
sensibility or contractibility; no analgesia at the electrode uses, it played an important part in the development of
contact point; no vascular dilation and reduced blood radio telegraphy in France [169].
pressure; and no increased metabolic rate without a rise of During the period 1894-1895, d’Arsonval clinically
the central temperature but with greater heat at the periph- treated seventy-five patients suffering various ailments with
ery. his machine. Each was exposed for 15–20 min daily in the
Up until 1893, all medical applications of high-frequency induction coil for a total of 2500 treatments. He found that
currents were made by direct electrical contact with the most types of hysteria and certain forms of local neuralgia
tissues or conduction. At that time, d’Arsonval introduced received no benefit, while on the other hand there was
what he called autoconduction, which was really induction, marked improvement in the health of patients suffering
At first, he experimentally placed animals (and then hu- from arthritic, rheumatic, and gouty conditions. In extendi-
mans) in induction coils. The human-size solenoidal coils ng the methodology to hospital trials, d’Arsonval intro-
were huge with big gaps between the turns (Figs. 5 and 6). duced capacitive coupling of the electric fields to the
Autocondensation, the forerunner of diathermy, remained patients in what was called a condensor couch. The patient
popular for many years, especially with many optimistic reclined on a large, shaped, metal plate with insulating
reports being made. These historic coil applicators are on dielectric cushions (Fig. 8). The patient’s body formed one
display at the Wellcome Museum in London, and the electrode of the capacitor and the couch the other. Other
Bakken Museum of Electricity in Life in Minneapolis, MN. patients were treated by having conduction currents pass
D’Arsonval was able to obtain considerable help from from the feet in a footbath to the hands in contact with
1184 IEEETRANSACTIONS
ONMICROWAVE
THEORY
ANDTECHNIQUES,
VOL.MTr-32, NO.9, SEPTEMRER
1984

Fig. 5. Large primary solinoid by cf’Arsonval for inducing high-

frequencycurrentsin the body that “vibrate atl the cells and bring Fig. 7. Oudin’s high-frequency resonator is tested by d’Arsonval, using
aboutpowerfulorganiceffects”[34]. his high-frequency generator[88].

Fig. 8. D’Arsonval’s condensercouch [34].

therapy Association devoted itself to the subject, Tesla

reported his work at a meeting of that Society in 1898. Eli
Thomson, who associated with Tesla on his lecture tours,
was credited with publishing a circuit for providing high-
frequency fields for therapy in Turner’s Manual of Practi-
cal Medical Electricity in 1897.
Fig. 6. DArsonvaf demonstrating that the current induced in his arms With widespread use of the d’Arsonval current by physi-
by a high-frequency solenoid coil will light an incandescentlamp [88].
cians in France, many extravagant claims were made of its
effectiveness; however, others failed to replicate them.
electrodes. A current of 350–450 mA was used for daily Typical of today, newspapers in 1899 published a sensa-
treatments of 6 min. At that same time, Tesla was also tional report that Tesla had cured pulmonary tuberculosis
conducting similar experiments in America, showing that with high-frequency current, following a suggestion by
20-kHz oscillations not perceived by the human body Tesla of that possibility, based on his findings that high-
could light up nearby glow tubes or heat metal objects. frequency current passing directly through bacilli killed
Susskind [169] has made note of the fact that unlike the them. Freund [50] wrote, in 1904, that clinical trials fell far
pioneers of radioactivity and ionizing radiation whose short of what had been expected, “Consequently in some
health was effected and lives shortened by their exper- quarters the whole method received unqualified condemna-
iments, d’Arsonval (1851–1940), Tesla (1856–1943), and tion.”
other radiofrequency pioneers, e.g., Eli Thomson According to Cumberbatch [28], the actual heating
(1853-1937), all lived well into their 80’s. Tesla conducted mechanism of the high-frequency currents was first eluci-
a number of experiments on himself and noted that the dated by Von Zeynech in 1899, who believed that the heat
physiological effects, depending on voltage, current, and was produced by the passage of current through tissues just
waveshape, were not only heated tissue, but were also as it would when passed through other resistance. In
changes in perspiration, blood circulation, and fatigue September 1907, at a medical meeting in Dresden, Franz
bordering on somnolescence. Tesla lectured on both sides Nagelschmidt [126] demonstrated “ Durchwarmung” with
of the Atlantic, and electrotherapy became very popular high-frequency currents, and in 1908, in Budapest, he
with an entire professional society: the American Electro- demonstrated a more powerful and effective machine which
GUY: HISTORY OF BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS AND MEDICAL APPLICATIONS OF MICROWAVE ENERGY 1185

left no doubt about the deep-heating effect of high- tion than that obtained by the electric spark used by
frequency currents. He coined the word diathermy to de- de Keating-Hart was needed in order to produce deeper
scribe the procedure, and published the first textbook on tissue destruction. He believed that normal cells could
the subject in 1913. By 1910, diathermy machines were withstand a temperature of 60°’ C, but the cancer cells
beginning to make their appearance in supply houses. would die at a temperature of 55° C. He also believed that
Diathermy “was soon used for many conditions including if he could increase the current frequency from 700 kH[z to
arthritis, poliomyelitis, pelvic diseases, pneumonia, and 1 MHz, he would be able to raise tissue temperature tc) the
received its greatest publicity in 1929, when the King of proper levels and with greater accuracy. He had a manu-
England’s health was improved by its use [107], Prior to facturer build such a generator with a small condensor, a
this time, a physical therapy clinic would have been a noisy resonating coil, and a rotating spark gap. One electrode
place with minor thunderclaps from spinning static wheels from the generator was applied to the patient through a
and the humming and singing of spark gaps (Fig. 7). moist pad while the other electrode was used for contact
Though Lee de Forest constructed the first radio tube with the tissue to be destroyed, resulting in coagulation at a
high-frequency medical apparatus in 1907—the “Cold” depth of 5 to 8 mm after only two minutes of contact. A
cautery for electrosurgery-American surgeons refused to survey of work prior to 1920 on treatment of tumors by
use it for many years. It was, however, being used effec- radio frequency energy was summarized by Rohdenburg
tively by physicians in Paris and Vienna. The frequency of and Prime [148], whose own work involved the treatment
the cu~rent used in long-wave diathermy up to 1929 was of spontaneous tumors in mice by X-rays alone, diathermy
approximately 1 MHz. Though these early generators were alone, and a combination of the two. Their work showed
spark-gap oscillators, they were in vogue from 1908 to that compared with controls, tumors treated with dia-
1940. In 1928, shortwave diathermy was introduced when thermy or X-ray radiation alone showed inhibition, or
Esau, a physicist in Jena, constructed for Schliephake at aggression of growth, while growth was significantly re-
Giessen a machine which was capable of delivering 400 W tarded, when the tumors were treated by the combined
at 100 MHz [107]. Schliephake [152], [153] was the first to agents. With 1OO-MHZ shortwave diathermy, the clinical
use the higher frequency shortwave diathermy clinically, by applications of diathermy as an adjunctive treatment of
first using it on himself to cure a furuncle on the nose, He cancer continued with the use of high-frequency genera-
believed that shortwave diathermy had a selective or specific tors. Work during the period between the 1920’s and 1930’s
bactericidal effect. He did much basic work on the heating is well-summarized by Arons and Sokolov [11]. Although
of animal tissues. Schereschewsky [150] placed small Rohdenburg and Prime [148] contended that combined
animals in a condensor field of a 2–36-m apparatus capa- diathermy and X-ray treatments are required for satisfact-
ble of delivering 7.5 W, With his ability to kill flies with the ory results, Liebesny [108] was able to eradicate carcinoma
apparatus, the press responded by calling it the new deatli in mice by using diathermy alone.
ray. In 1935, manufacturers large and small began to With the introduction of shortwave and ultra-shortwave
produce and sell increasing quantities of machines and radio-frequency apparatus, Schereschewsky [151] was often
made many exorbitant claims about the cure of tuberculo- able to inhibit the growth of transplanted carcinomas in
sis and cancer. Neon glow tubes were used to prove the mice, and in some cases to completely eradicate tumors by
presence of electromagnetic radiation, in addition to treating mice with ultra-shortwaves of 3-m wavelength.
sometimes impressing patients with the marvelous proper- Pflomm [138] was able to inhibit the growth of Jensen-rat
ties of shortwaves that could light the tube without contact. sarcoma by shortwave treatments at 4.5-m wavelengths.
With over-enthusiasm and lack of precaution, moderate Some researchers, for example Reiter [144], after experi-
and occasionally severe burns resulted until the circuit and menting with shortwaves varying from 3 to 15 m in wave-
electrode designs were improved. The first electrodes were length, stated that there is a specific biological effect
bare capacitive plates, and later became coated with thick associated with wavelength. He reported that diathermy at
glass shoes with considerable air spacing, 3.5 m was the most efficacious in the treatment of tumors.
Riviere was the first to use high-frequency current to He excluded elevated temperature as a possible factor in
treat skin cancer in 1900, but the voltage was too low to his interpretation of specific biologic action.
destroy the cells. De Keating-Hart was the first to apply Roffo [147] demonstrated that waves ranging from 0.58
the spark to destroy tumor tissue, during his demonstration to 6.75 m can inhibit the growth of rat sarcoma in uitro,
at the International Congress of Electrology in Milan, in but not that of an embryonic chicken heart. Hill [75]
1906. While a great battle for recognition for the discovery showed that exposure to ultra-shortwave elevation ojf tem-
of the destruction of tumor tissue by high-frequency cur- perature was insufficient by itself to be tumoricida.1, but
rents took place between Riviere and de Keating-Hart, Mortimer and Osborne [125] believed that heating alone is
R. F. Cook, in New York, accidentally short-circuited the responsible for evidence that the growth of Ehrlich mouse
current from a static electricity machine through his fingers. sarcoma in uitro was retarded when exposed to 3.5-m
The resultant tissue destruction gave him the idea of treat- waves. Eidinow [39] held that there is no ‘specific action of
ing small tumors with a spark of static. electricity, and he ultra-shortwaves of 3–4-m wavelength, and stated that they
published his findings unaware that similar work had be- act the same way as diathermy currents of longer wave-
gun in France [107].; Doyeri [37] felt that deeper penetra- lengths by simply heating the tissues.
1186 IEEETRANSACTIONS
ONMICROWAVE
TIiEORYANDTECHNIQUES,
VOL.MTT-32,NO.9, SEPTENIBER
1984

Schliephake [152] treated carcinoma of the uterus by a originated in Germany when Hollman [79] (in 1938–1939)
combination of shortwaves and X-rays; he observed after discussed the possibility of therapeutic applications of 25-
several treatments a marked disintegration of the cm waves; he predicted that the waves could be focused to
carcinomatous tissue, but, after suspending treatment for a produce heating of the deep tissues without excessive heat-
period of several weeks, malignant growth recurred. Fuchs ing of the skin. Similar predictions were made shortly
[58] reported retardation of tumor growth after low-power afterward by Hemingway and Stenstrom [74] in the United
shortwave exposures, in which heating was negligible, as an States. The lack of hardware during the late 1930’s pre-
adjunct to X-ray therapy. Arons and Sokolov [11] con- vented development and clinical application of these con-
ducted a series of experiments based on the premise of cepts, and diathermy continued to be applied at frequen-
athermaJ properties of shortwave therapy in which the cies below 100 MHz.
temperature in the region treated was not allowed to rise In 1938, the magnetron tube was developed at Bell
above 26–27”C. They used shortwaves of 6-m wavelength Laboratories, but the available power it generated was only
in combination with X-rays to treat 30 cases of human 2–3 W. Later that year, RCA developed a magnetron
malignancy, including carcinoma of the oral cavity, the capable of generating 20 W and promised that 100 W
ku-ynx, the epigastrium, the uterus, and the rectum. At the could be produced. In 1939, the klystron tube was devel-
time of their report, they could not form definite conclu- oped at Stanford University, and promises were made that
sions concerning the increase of radiosensitivity of the the tube could soon be used for therapeutic purposes.
tumors treated by the shortwaves. They stated, however, Suddenly, at this time when tubes of sufficient power for
that the method was of value in that there was no aggrava- therapeutic application were known to exist, they all be-
tion or stimulated growth of neoplastic tissue in any of came mysteriously unavailable. It was not until the secret
their cases, and that there was a lessening of skin injury by of radar was finally revealed that the medical community
the X-rays. They also reported other benefits of the treat- realized all such tubes had become frozen for military use
ment: post-operative suppuration was inhibited, and an during World War II. After the war, a magnetron tube
analgesic effect was often observed during the course of developed at M.I.T., capable of generating 400 W at 3000
treatment. MHz was available for medical use. In June, 1946, Raytheon
H. J. Johnson [87], using more precise quantitative meth- Company supplied such a device to the Mayo Clinic for
ods than those employed by other investigators, reported medical research. With the new equipment, therapeutic
on the action of shortwaves on transplanted tumors in viuo application of microwaves began at the Mayo Clinic in
and in uitro. He developed a technique for continuously 1946 [96], [97]. This application involved exposure of
measuring elevated temperatures in tumors during ex- laboratory animals to 3000-MHz fields at an output power
posure, studied the thermal sensitivity of the Jensen-rat of 65 W. Temperature distributions in thighs of experimen-
sarcoma and the Walker-rat Carcinoma-256 over a range tal dogs were measured by thermocouples before and after
of temperatures (43.5 –47”C). Johnson found that the ex- irradiation. In this work (thermocouples were removed
posure durations required to produce a 50-percent regres- during periods of irradiation), it was demonstrated that
sion of the Walker-rat Carcinoma-256 at 47, 45, and 43.50 C deep tissues could be heated, resulting in a number of
were, respectively, 45 rein, 1.5 h, and 6 h, Exposure dura- physiological responses, including an increased blood flow
tions for 50-percent regressions of the Jensen-rat sarcoma to the treated area. But, as in the case of shortwave
at the same set of temperatures were 25 rein, 1 h, and 3 h. diathermy, it was noted that the average elevation of
Johnson measured temperatures via thermocouples em- temperature under microwave diathermy was greater in the
bedded in hypodermic needles; he tried to eliminate cou- skin and subcutaneous fat than it was in deeper muscular
pling of high-frequency currents by using a tuning process. tissues, although the final temperature in the muscle tissue
Considerable problems were encountered with wave trap- was higher than that obtained with sources in earlier use.
ping by thermocouples under certain conditions, but he This work launched the use of microwave diathermy for
was able to obtain reliable temperature measurements. application in physical medicine. The focusing characteris-
Despite the early reports of successful use of shortwaves tic of microwaves at that time was believed to be advanta-
to control malignancies in the laboratory and in the clinic, geous in that it provided a means of achieving a wide
the methodology was never widely adopted in practice variety of heating patterns with improved flexibility in
until recently, as discussed in Section 111. therapeutic applications. The fact that the patient was
completely free to move away from the director at any
II. MEDICAL APPLICATIONS AT MICROWAVE
time, and the freedom from pads, encumbering cables, and
FREQUENCIES
towelling commonly used with shortwave diathermy were
During the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, there was grow- considered distinct advantages. The experimental results
ing interest in the use of even shorter wavelengths of RF seemed to indicate that true deep heating was achieved
fields for therapeutic purposes. Williams [178] reported without undue heating of the cutaneous surface. It must be
that waves of a few centimeters could be focused, and remembered, however, that these conclusions were based
Southworth [163] pointed out that such waves can be on the use of dogs which have thinner layers of subcuta-
directed through hollow conducting tubes (waveguides). neous fat and muscle than humans. This new microwave
The proposal to use microwaves for therapeutic purposes modality gained further credance from dielectric data pub-
G~: ~sTORy OF BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS AND MEDICAL APPLICATIONS OF MICROWAVE ENERGY 1187

lished as a result of World War II research at the ~as- 9*

,—53-.,
sachusetts Institute of Technology. The data indicated that
0,0
the absorption of microwaves at a frequency of 2450 MHz
in water at 100° F was in the order of 7000 times greater :“ -d$-’. T7,
6 ,,y&
than the absorption at the commonly used shortwave
@ !4

diathermy of 27 MHz. As a result, in 1946, the Federal

Communications Commission assigned the frequency of
u ?4

@
2450 MHz to physical medicine based on its alleged supe- A, “Em ,, “s,,

riority in therapeutic value. This is a classic example of

how the historic lack of engineering in medicine has pro-
ALL DlMEN510Ns IN CENTIMETERS
longed ill-conceived practices not only k medicine, but
Fig. 9. Applicators usedwith 2450MHz diathermy equipment\ 69],
also in nonrelated industrial applications. The research
teams did not consider the fact that the electrical proper-
ties and geometry of tissues, wavelength, and electrical skin the subcutaneous tissues was less than in the deeper muscle
depth in the tissues, far outweigh the absorption and tissues. The investigation showed no evidence of damage to
focusing characteristics of waves in the generation of de- the dog’s vitreous body after exposure to the microwave
sirable therapeutic heating patterns. Until the recent popu- radiation. The maximal temperature in the muscle of the
larity of treatment of tumors by microwaves within the last thigh was 40.l”C.
5 years, there was no commercial microwave diathermy Worden et al. [179] found, in 1948, that a monopole
equipment available in the United States, other than the antenna with a hemispheric reflector, which was energized
same 2450-MHz apparatus that was conceived 37 years at 30 W by 2450-MHz energy, resulted in maximal heating
ago. As a matter of fact, all of the microwave ovens and of the thighs of dogs after an exposure period of 20 min
many of the industrial food processing units being manu- when the antenna was located 2.5 cm from the surface of
factured and used today operate on 2450 MHz, based on the thigh. If the period of exposure was extended to 30
the historic frequency allocation. tin, the temperature dropped as a result of a sharp in-
The microwave diathermy apparatus, approved by the crease in blood flow. This finding was consistent with that
Council on Physical Medicine of the American Medical found in 1941 by Mittlemaim et al. [123]. Worden et al.
Association, in December, 1947, and manufactured by also carried out comparative studies on the effects of
Raytheon Company, was known as the Raytheon micro- exposing ischemic tissue and tissue with normal circulation
therm. It generated continuous-wave energy in an air-cooled to the same amount of microwave energy over a period of
magnetron oscillator tube at a frequency of 2400–2500- 15 to 20 min. They reported serious damage in ischemic
MHz or a wavelength of approximately 12.2 cm. The areas even though the recorded temperatures were not any
energy, variable from 0–125 W, was applied to the patient higher than those found in tissues with normal circulation.
by one of four possible directors designated A, B, C, or D. In physical medicine, the effects of electromagnetic fields
The first three, which were the most popular, are shown in were believed to arise from simple volume heating. When
Fig. 9. Directors A afid B consisted of hemispherical local elevations of temperature are induced in living tis-
reflectors containing stub antenna sources, while director C sues, many physiological responses occur that are due in
consisted of a small 11.5X13.3-cm dihedral corner reflec- part to direct thermalization of tissues and in p,art to
tor with a 6.4-cm-long half-wave dipole source, The per- reflexive changes initiated distally by heating of local nerve
centage of power used was determined by the spacing from receptors. One response is an increase in blood flow via
the skin surface, which was generally about 2 in. Treatment vasodilatation. This response is accompanied by increases
time varied from 15 to 30 min. This clinical diathermy in capillary pressure, in cellular-membrane permeability,
machine, along with the C director, are of great interest and in metabolic rate. The latter increase can also produce
since they were used for most of the early work and a a further increase in tissue temperature.
significant amount of later work on the biological effects of Siems et al. [162] performed comparative studies of the
microwaves. In fact, they are still being used today for both effect of shortwave and microwave diathermy on blood
therapy and experimental work on biological effects in this flow. Their experiments clearly demonstrated that short-
country and abroad. wave and microwave diathermy were equally effective in
In 1948, Osborne and Frederick used the newly devel- producing increased blood flow in the extremities of nor-
oped machine, with a 60–80 W output for 20 rein, to mal dogs. A number of such experiments were carried out,
expose the leg muscle of the dog, the frontal sinus, of the sometimes with conflicting results. Finally, to resolve the
dog, and the first recorded experiments on the human conflict, Richardson et al. [146] carried out research on the
thigh. In contrast to the results obtained earlier by Krusen relation between deep-tissue temperature and blood flow
and Leden, the newer investigation showed that both the during irradiation of the gastrocnernius muscles of dogs by
temperature change and the final temperature decreased shortwave and microwave diathermy. They found with
with penetration in the dog’s thigh with an average temper- both modalities that it was necessary to increase tempera-
ature of 40.1 “C, 2 in deep. When the surface of the dog’s ttu-es at the l-cm depth in an extremity of the dog to ;i level
thigh was cooled by forced air, however, the temperature in of 42–43°C before a consistent increase in bloocl flow
1188 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. MTr-32, NO,9, SEPTEMBER
1984

occurred in the femoral artery. The increase in blood flow Wachsmann [15] reported regressions and cures in skin
was sufficient to diminish the temperature by 3° after once carcinoma of patients exposed to shortwaves and X-rays in
reaching a critical temperature. These results are consistent combination. Exposure of each of the 82 patients for a
with the findings of Mittlemann et al. [123], and have been period of 2.5 h to 6-m shortwaves (tumor temperatures of
observed subsequently by many researchers and clinicians. 42–44”C) alone produced regressions but not cures. When
After 1950, and until 1965, research on the use of shortwave exposures were combined with X-irradiation,
microwave diathermy in physical medicine expanded sig- however, some cures were observed. Fuchs [59] reported
nificantly. Clinical and experimental studies were much good clinical results when 6-m shortwave exposures of
more predominant than any quantitative work on dosime- 10–20 min durations were followed by X-irradiation, He
try. Gessler, McCarty, and Parkinson [64] appear to be the claimed that the good clinical results arose from increased
first group of physicians to use RF energy at microwave radiosensitivity incident to hyperaemia and to acceleration
,.
frequencies in the experimental treatment of cancer in of metabolism.
1950. They were able ‘to eradicate spontaneous mammary In addition to the use of combined RF-field and X-ray
Carcinoma in C3H mice solely by microwave irradiation at therapy, interest developed in the use of microwaves in
2450 MHz. Five years later, Allen [2] eradicated Crocker selective heating of tumors to provide more effective ther-
sarcoma 39 in rats by combining 1500–2000 r X-rays and apy in conjunction with injected radioactive materials and
12.5-cm microwaves; the animals were exposed to micro- chemotherapy. Copeland and Michelson [26] reported
waves 10–20 rnin, and a peak temperature of 42°C was that the heating of Walker carcinoma 256 by selective
recorded in the tumors, Crile [27] reported that growth of radiation (2800-MHz microwaves at 260 mW/cm2 for 5
tumors in dogs and human beings was controlled by 2450- rein) induced a substantial increase in the amount of
MHz microwave diathermy and X-irradiation in combina- intravenously injected I 133 fibrinogen that was localized in
tion. the tumor. They pointed out that this tumor-heating tech-
Crile noted, in 1962, that prolonged elevation of temper- nique could potentially increase tumor radiation therapy
ature in certain cancers at levels between 42 and 50”C dose from 1133 fibrinogen by 400 percent.
selectively destroyed tumors without damaging normal tis- Zimmer et al. [181] reported the use of selective electro-
sues. He concluded that it was a secondary inflammatory magnetic heating in tumors of animals in deep hypother-
reaction, rather than a primary elevation of temperature, mia to enhance the action of chemotherapy. They treated
that destroyed the tumors. Two years later, Cater, Silver, spontaneous mammary tumors in C3H mice and induced
and Watkinson [20] reported that combined therapy of mammary tumors in Sprague-Dawley rats, and found that
2620 r (220-Kv X-rays) and subsequent 10-cm microwave in 20 control mice there were no spontaneous regressions
irradiation of the tumor (47°C for 8 to 10 rein) cured some of tumors, and in 20 mice treated with chemotherapy only,
rats of hepatoma 223 transplanted to the leg. The investi- two animals showed regression of tumors with a regression
gators noted that there were no long-term survivors treated time of 10 days. Only one tumor in the group treated by
by radiation alone or by diathermy alone; tumors were differential hyperthefi,a regressed after seven days. In the
smaller and average survival time was significantly longer group of 20 mice treated both by differential hyperthermia
in rats treated by the combined therapy. In the same year, and by chemotherapy in combination, 17 animals exhibited
Moressi [124] reported that mortality patterns were essen- regression of tumors after 55+25 days. Similar results were
tially identical in mouse sarcoma 180 cells exposed to obtained from’ the rats;, all 10 animals exposed to S-band
2450-MHz microwaves and in conventionally heated con- fields (2.45 GHz) exhibited regression of tumors; the aver-
trols held at the same temperatures over a range of age regression time was 22 days.
43-48”C. He found that malignant-cell decay was highly Overgaard and Overgaard [132] provided an excellent
temperature-dependent, as indicated by the” Spontaneous” review and reported on extensive and well-carried-out ex-
destruction of cellular material. His investigation also periments on 1200 mice in their laboratory, where trans-
showed that temperature deviations no greater than 1 “C, if planted tumors in the mice were permanently cured without
undetected, can lead to erroneous interpretations, prompt- damage to surrounding. tissues by treatment with 27.12-
ing him to write: MHz shortwaves. They used a special, field-nonperturbing
One may critically question the role of unrecognized tem- thermocouple that could be embedded in a tumor to pro-
perature discrepancies in many of the previously reported vide automatic regulation of the shortwave output. Thus, it
studies in which gross results seemed to indicate the presence
was possible to maintain desired temperature continuously
of a non-thermal factor. Temperature regulation is thus a
with a variation of about 0.1 ‘C. With these carefully
major concern in investigations where cellular destruction is
controlled elevations in the range of 41.5 to 43.5 “C, they
involved [124].
were able to work out a quantitative relation between
temperature and exposure time for curing the transplanted
111. GROWING INTEREST IN RF HYPERTHERMIA
tumors.
AND CANCER
In their analysis, Overgaard and Overgaard showed that
Although the use of microwaves in therapeutic heating the thermalizing treatment induced histological changes in
gained in popularity in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, interest the tumor cells without damaging stomal and vascular cells
in the use of shortwaves also continued. Birkner and in the tumor or in the surrounding normal tissue. Im-
(WY: HISTORY OF B1OLOG1CAL EFFECTS AND MRDICAL APPLICATIONS OF MICROWAVE ENERGY 1189

mediately after treatment, definite changes were revealed in 2450-MHz and 915-MHz fields. In these studies, the tem-
the mitochondria and lysosomes in the tumor cells. The perature of the tumors was raised to a temperature between
magnitude of these changes was directly related to the 42.5 and 43”C. Nelson and Holt [127] and Hornback etal.
elevation of temperature, and became more pronounced [80], [81] successfully treated cancers in patients by com-
within a few hours or days. The authors noted changes in bined therapy with 433-MHz fields and ionizing radiation.
the nuclei of the tumor cells and in the chromosomal and More recent clinical successes with microwave hyper-
nucleolar chromatin within the first few hours after ex- thermia have been reported by Gibbs [65] and Perez [136].
posure. They observed severe injury in all tumor cells 24 h Interstitial application of low-frequency energy (500-lkHz)
after exposure to a curative dose. Through histological and has also been successfully used in the treatment of tumors
biochemical observations, the authors obtained clues that [25].
allowed them to assume that the direct effect of the heat
was a selective activation of the acid hydrolyses localized in
the lysosomes of the tumor cells. IV. BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS

In later work, Overgaard and Overgaard [133] found that Since the earliest use of RF energy for medical applica-
the addition of a small dose of localized X-radiation pro- tions it has been known that excessive heating of the tissue
duced a highly significant intensification of the tumor- can be hazardous and cause injury. However, there also has
eradicating effect. They successive application
found that been interest in and concern for athermal effects. Argu-
of heat and X-rays, both at levels substantially smaller ments in support of and against the thesis of athermal
than those required in isolation to produce cures, produced effects developed during the early history of the ther-
a larger number of total cures. They also noted that apeutic application of RF waves. In addition to the claimed
intervals as long as 24 h between applications did not frequency-specific effects in shortwave treatment of turners,
appreciably alter the curative effect. Danilewsky and Worobjew [32] demonstrated that contrac-
From the mid-1970’s on, interest in use of RF fields, tions by frog nerve-muscle preparations increased in am-
either alone or in combination with radiation, increased plitude when high-frequency currents were applied along
substantially; a large number of favorable reports on the with minimal faradic stimulation. When the high-frequency
use of combined therapy has appeared in symposia pro- currents were removed, the excitability of the nerve ralpidly
ceedings and publications. Among these are the Proceed- returned to its original value. With increasing current (at
ings of the First and Second International Symposia on 0.5-1.0 MHz), a point was reached at which excitability
Cancer Therapy by Hyperthermia and Irradiation [4], [166]; was depressed. This same phenomenon of altered
a Special Issue of IEEE TRANSACTIONS MICROWAVE THE- nerve-muscle excitability was also obtained by irradiating
ORY AND TECHNIQUES on microwaves and medicine, with the sciatic nerve of a warm-blooded animal.
accent on the application of RF energy to cancer treatment Audiat [12] asserted that, because excitability of the
[82]; a special Radiation and Environmental Biophysics neme–muscle preparation diminished under the action of
issue on hyperthermia in cancer therapy [143]; the Third RF waves, it had to be a “specific” effect, since heating
International Symposium on Cancer Therapy by Hyper- supposedly would have an opposite effect. It was also
thermia, Drugs, and Radiation [172]; a Special Issue of the claimed by Delherm and Fischgold [36] that high-frequency
Journal of Microwave Power on Electromagnetic Hyperther- currents diminished excitability of the nerve-muscle pre-
mia [89]; and the Annals of the New York Academy of paration in a manner similar to that produced by the
Science, Thermal Characteristics of Tumors: Applications in anodic effect of a direct current. Later, it was shown by
Detection and Treatments [6]. In addition, four new Weissenberg [176] that interrupted high-frequency current
textbooks, Lehmann [105], Storm [165], Hahn [73], and applied to a nerve-muscle preparation of a frog showed
Gautherie and Albert [63] cover the subject in great detail. stimulating effects similar to those obtained by a pulsating
Some examples of more recent applications of submicro- dc current. It was postulated that the nerve rectified a
wave RF fields are in the reports of von Ardenne [175], small portion of the applied current. Pflomm [138] stated
Overgaard [131], &m et al, [94], [95], LeVeen [106], Storm that when a frog’s heart was placed in a shortwave field,
et al. [164], and Gibbs [65]. Continuing success is reported the beat became slower and that contractions lessenedl with
in the use of microwave hyperthermia as an adjunct in the the diastolic beat final] y ceasing; but if the field were
treatment of tumor. Szmigielski et al. [171] reported pro- switched off, the heart gradually resumed its activity. Hill
longed survival of mice bearing Sarcoma-180 tumors after and Taylor [76], on the other hand, repeated Pflom-nn’s
irradiation by 3000-MHz microwaves such that rectal tem- work, showing that weak, high-frequency fields at wave-
perature increased by 3-4”C. The inhibitory effects of lengths of 600, 22, and 6 m would increase the excitability
microwave hyperthermia was enhanced by simultaneous of a nerve-muscle preparation, whereas stronger currents
treatment of the mice with interferon and interferon in- produced a depression of excitability. They showed that
ducers. Mendecki et al. [115] completely eradicated trans- similar effects could be produced by a hot wire placed near
planted mammary adenocarcinoma in C3H mice and, in the nerve and concluded that the mode of action of the
several clinical cases, obtained favorable results in the high-frequency current on the nerve-muscle preparation is
treatment of basal-cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma, thermal. These researchers also demonstrated that the ef-
and skin metastasis of carcinoma of the breast by both fects observed by Pflomm on the frog’s heart were identical
1190 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MlCROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. Imr-32, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER 1984

to that obtained when the frog’s heart was warmed by vascular system, and central nervous system. Effects were
conventional means, observed on the biological systems’ immunity and toler-
The first study on the effects of microwaves on living ance to ionizing radiation. The possibility that microwaves
mammalian tissue was conducted by the Armed Forces in may interact with biological material without the produc-
answer to a morale problem by Daily [29], Follis [45], and tion of heat was pointed out, but most of the research
Lidman and Cohn [109]. The studies were meant to dispel results obtained in this country at that time did not sup-
fears of possible ill effects of EM radiation upon personnel port this. As a result of the studies, the previously recom-
connected with radar work. The reports, which indicated mended safe exposure level of 10 mW/cm2 (discussed in
no ill effects, were concerned only with the exposure of Section ~ continued to be used.
animals to radar pulses. Later, however, Richardson et al. The work being done in the Soviet Union, however,
[145] were able to induce lenticular opacities in the eyes of indicated that effects on the central nervous system were
rabbits and dogs exposed at a distance of 5.08 cm. Daily taking place at nonthermal levels below 10 mW/cm2. As a
et al. [31] also were able to produce cataracts and other result of their work, the Soviets, in 1958, set their safety
eye-tissue damage in rabbits, and Imig et al. [83] were able level for continuous exposure three orders of magnitude
to produce testicular degeneration in rats exposed to the lower (10 pW/cm2 ) than that which was later set in the
same generator. Oldendorf [128] performed one of the United States. Some scientists in the United States stated
earliest studies on the effect of microwaves on the CNS. that Soviet studies were oriented toward the Pavlovian
The results, thermal in origin, showed that focal coagula- concept of” Nervism,” which presumes that all body func-
tion necrosis could be produced in the brain of rabbits tions are influenced by the central nervous system, Since
exposed to 2450 MHz. This resulted in irritability and experimental support for the approach was obtained by
altered equilibrium. Daily et aL [30] also were able to conditional response studies, it was criticized by many U.S.
produce cataracts in the eyes of rabbits exposed to the researchers involved in the Tri-Service Program. The work
2450-MHz diathermy source, During and after 1950, there was also criticized for the limited statistical analysis of
was a considerable amount of research done in the use of data, inadequate controls, and difficulty in objective inter-
the 2450-MHz diathermy apparatus. A microwave-induced pretation of the findings (see, for example, Michelson et
human cataract (first reported by Hirsch [77]) was found in al. [118] and Frey [55]).
the eye of a microwave technician who habitually looked There were a few other American researchers, however,
into a microwave horn-type antenna at close range while who believed that there was a possibility for the existence
performing certain tests. of deleterious nonthermal effects (Frey [55]), Complete
After 1950, research on the use of microwaves for references on work since 1950 are too numerous to discuss
diathermy and also on hazardous biological effects completely here, but they are well-documented with com-
mushroomed. Though the most obvious effects of micro- prehensive reviews, beginning with the records of the Con-
waves were thermal in nature, evidence was sought on the gressional Hearings on the Radiation Control for Health
possibility of nonthermal effects. and Safety Act of 1967 [5]. In particular, the discussion by
The Armed Porces became involved in the problem of Michelson et al. [119] gave an excellent survey of the work
radiation safety in 1956, in connection with radar person- prior to 1968. Examples of studies concerning dosimetry
nel. The Department of Defense, through the United States and modes of wave propagation in the tissues include work
Air Force and the Tri-Service ad hoc Committee, under- done by Schwan [157], [159], [160], Anne et al. [7], [8], and
took a comprehensive analysis of the biological aspects and Livenson [111]. Examples of studies done on thermal ef-
associated hazards of exposure to microwave radiation, A fects include work done by Michelson et al. [116]-[119],
$13 million study was launched, and biological effects due Carpenter and Van Ummersen [19], and Ely et al. [41],
to a wide range of frequencies and power levels were noted. while examples of work done on nonthermal effects involve
The results of these studies were reported and documented Susskind [168], Schwan [159], Kholodov [91]–[93], Presman
during symposia held in 1957, 1958, 1959, and 1960 [140], [141], Livshits [112], and Frey [51], [52], [54], [55]. A
(Pattishall [134], [135], Susskind [168], Peyton [137]). Most book by Presman [142] of the Soviet Union, translated into
of the work indicated that the major effects of microwaves English, provides an excellent treatment of Soviet work on
in biological tissues was due either to localized or to both thermal and nonthermal effects. One of the more
general hyperthermia or elevation of temperature in the curious effects observed by radar technicians during World
tissues, producing the greatest danger to areas with poor or War 11was the microwave hearing phenomenon first noted
no blood circulation, such as the eyes and testicles. in an electronic equipment advertisement (Airborn Instru-
Michelson et al, [118] and Michelson [120], [121] showed ments Laboratory, 1956) and investigated in great detail by
that sufficient power and exposure time could produce Frey [51]-[53], [56]. The fact that the mechanism of the
breakdown of thermal regulation in the biological system phenomenon was not known for nearly three decades
resulting in death. He also demonstrated effects of radia- attests to the historic absence of adequate attention by
tion on blood composition, where some blood-cell levels engineers and physical scientists to the bioelectromagnetics
could be increased and other decreased after exposure of field. Actually, the necessary work required to explain the
an animal to microwaves. Effects were demonstrated on phenomenon in terms of thermoplastic acoustic dis-
the thyroid, immune response, endocrine response, cardio- turbances was done for nonbiological materials exposed to
GUY: HISTORY OF BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS AND MEDICAL APPLICATIONS OF MICROWAVE ENERGY 1191

EM waves by White [177]. This phenomenon was not proportional to the quantity of energy absorbed by the
related to the hearing effect until 11 years later by Foster patient.
and Finch [46]. Detailed reviews of the work relating to The work by Mittlemann et al. [123] clearly demon-
this problem have been made by Lin [110] and Chou and strated that the averaged extent of tissue heating is depend-
Guy [23]. ent on the rate of energy absorption and not on the
Another bizarre interaction that still defies explanation wavelength of the field for similar ratios of deep-to-superfi-
is the observance of effects in biological preparations only cial heating. Their work also indicated that there was a
when they are exposed to certain “windows” of modula- marked difference in the character of the temperature–time
tion frequency in the ELF band and low-level power curves at high and low levels of power. At levels of power
density (Bawin et al. [13], Blackman et al. [16]). Though the below 100 W (calculated SAR = 33 to 42 W/kg), tempera-
results are controversial, the fact that they have been ture in the deep tissue was noted to rise along a straight
observed by multiple investigators has enhanced the credi- line until near the termination of the 20-min exposure
bility of the findings. period. When the SAR exceeded 42 W/kg, the final tem-
perature was lower than the earlier peak temperature, due
to vasodilation, which rapidly cooled the volume of ex-
V. DOSIMETRYAND QUANTITATION OF EFFECTS
posed tissue by circulatory convection.
Between 1931 and 1941, there were many basic problems During the first ten years of development and use of
in the use of radiofrequency energy for effective ther- shortwave diathermy, most research consisted of measuring
apeutic heating of tissues. Most of these problems arose the temperatures of superficial and deep tissues of lboth
because investigators were not able to quantify the actual animal and human subjects exposed to capacitive- and
rate of energy absorption by tissues during treatment. The inductive-type applicators, the generator wavelengths of
results of uncontrolled experiments resulted in contradic- which varied from 6 to 24 m. The only dosimetric index at
tory statements in the medical literature. The various this earlier time was the power level of a source (or a
shortwave generators produced by different manufacturers temperature measurement in tissues. A number of re-
had variable outputs. It was implied through advertise- searchers, as a result of their observations of varying T‘s in
ments that the heating of deeper tissues would be enhanced exposed tissues in association with different wavelengths,
with greater output power of the generating equipment, concluded that absorption characteristics are wavelength
Since the extent of heating of tissues seemed to vary specific. Others, however, such as Osborne and Coulter
considerably with frequency, even with the same apparent [129], concluded that the variations were more dependent
output power of the various devices, many researchers on electrode configuration and spacing and the geometry
jumped to the conclusion that there were selective ther- of the tissue being heated than on frequency, These early
apeutic properties associated with specific wavelengths. researchers also observed that it was difficult to produce
A research team consisting of engineers and physicians therapeutic elevations to 42–45 “C in deeper tissues, such
(Mittlemann, Osborne, and Coulter [123]) measured eleva- as muscle and bone marrow, without adversely affecting
tions of temperature in viuo in tissues as a function of time the skin and other more superficird tissues.
rates and quantities of energy absorption; they presciently Significant research to quantify various biological effects
recognized that quantities of absorbed energy are superior of electromagnetic field was done by Schwan [154] –[158] at
to the output power of the diathermy applicator and the the University of Pennsylvania. Schwan’s work on dielec-
exposure level as dosimetric indices. The team instru- tric properties of biological tissues and on the influence of
mented a shortwave diathermy generator so that the energy tissue geometries on scattering properties deserves consid-
absorbed by a patient under treatment could be measured erable attention. Schwan demonstrated theoretically that
to levels within 5 percent. As expected, the power level of microwave irradiation at a frequency of 2450 MHz is not
absorbed energy was highly correlated with the rate of therapeutically advantageous because of several major de-
temperature elevation of the tissues. The results interre- ficiencies, including: 1) excessive heating of subcutaneous
lated absorbed energy, elevations of temperature, and fat by standing waves, 2) poor penetration into muscle
duration of treatment (i.e., watts per 1000 cc of tissue for a tissue because of poor penetration, and 3) poor control of
O.l°F elevation per minute). This work made use, for the the distribution of energy absorption in the patient because
first time, of volume-normalized rates of energy absorption of large variations in electrical thickness of tissues (com-
in units (W/liter) closely related to the W/kg now widely pared with the wavelength of subcutaneous tissues). He
used to index the RF dose rate, the SAR. The results of the recommended that frequencies be reduced to 900 MHz and
energy-absorption measurements agreed closely with the- lower.
ory. The amount of energy absorbed per unit volume that During the period of concern about biological effects the
raised the tissue temperature to a certain extent in a given therapeutic applications of microwaves continued first at a
period of time was virtually the same in all of their tests. slow pace but then accelerated due to the popularity of
Mittlemann et al. [123] conducted another series of heat therapy as an adjuvent for the treatment of cancer.
measurements in which a patient was exposed to fields of Lehmann et al. [98] -[102] and Guy [67] experimentally
differing wavelengths under differing conditions of ex- verified Schwan’s earlier theoretical prediction that irradia-
posure. Their results indicated that the AT per minute was tion at 900 MHz or below can produce more determinate
1192 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. MTT-32,NO.9, SEPTEMRER
1984

therapeutic patterns than those obtained with 2450-MHz taining suspended small particles of biological material of
fields. Since 1966, Lehmann et al. [104], deLateur [35], Guy differing dielectric properties was demonstrated (Saito
[68], [69], and Guy et aL [70] have developed and clinically [149], Furedi et al. [60], [61], Schwan [159]), Studies began
tested extant 915-MHz equipment. in the early 1960’s on determining the relationship of
Recently, there have been considerable advances in the exposure frequency, subject size, and subject shape with
design, efficacy, and safety of both shortwave- and micro- energy coupling (Anne [7], [9], Anne et al. [8]). Analyses
wave-hyperthermia applicators and systems (Christiansen were performed with prolate spheroidal tissue models using
and Durney [24], Kantor [90], Cheung et al. [22]). Work in static solutions to determine low-frequency quasi-static
the characterization of biophysical properties of normal field coupling and spheres using the Mie theory to de-
tissues under RF irradiation is being extended to include termine plane-wave field-coupling characteristics with the
neoplastic tissue by Foster et al. [47], Burdette [18], and bodies of humans. The studies with the spheres indicated
Stuchly et al. [167]. that the absorption cross section varied markedly with
Much of the past research involved the application of frequency with sharp minima and maxima. Franke [49], of
radiation fields to various small animals and noting such the U. S.S.R., in 1961, was the first to simulate the human
qualitative effects as tissue changes. Although the Tri- form with cylinders and prolate spheroids and to expose
Service studies in the later 1950’s provided a large amount to different field polarizations to calculate the absorbed
of qualitative data, they did not contribute much to a full energy. Franke was the first to demonstrate the sharp
quantitative understanding of either the effects of electro- differences in absorbed energy as a function of polarization
magnetic fields on human tissues or the effects of human and to demonstrate resonance in a human-like model.
tissues on electromagnetic fields. A large portion of the Franke also demonstrated the dependence of absorption
work was devoted to establishing the electromagnetic power on the square of frequency below resonance and the fact
densities in the vicinity of various radar sources, exposing that in this frequency range the absorption due to electric-
the animals or biological tissues to microwave sources and field exposure could be calculated separately from that due
observing the resulting changes in the tissues, and exposing to magnetic-field exposures.
crude phantom-tissue models to microwaves and observing After the mid-1960’s, experimental phantom models of
the temperature changes. In most cases, the magnitude of various tissue were developed and used for experimentally
the applied field was based on predictions or measure- verifying the theoretical analysis and determining field
ments for an undisturbed field condition in front of a radar coupling and absorption characteristics for more complex
source or in a test chamber. The absorption, diffraction, tissue structures not amenable to theoretical analysis. From
and scattering effects of the test animal or specimen on the the late 1960’s until the present, thermography has played
applied field was usually not accounted for. The fact that a powerful role in measuring the EM-field-induced temper-
these effects vary greatly from animal to animal, and ature changes in both phantom and actual biological tis-
especially from animal to man, was ignored. Therefore, the sues, allowing for a rapid and accurate quantification of
induced changes in tissues and electromagnetic-field toler- the absorbed energy and electric-field distributions within
ance levels were invariably related to an undisturbed field the tissues. Both theoretical work and the development of
of radar source rather than the actual field strengths new instrumentation increased substantially in the 1970’s.
present in the tissues, The latter criterion is paramount if Complex spherical models of the human head consisting of
the effects observed in animals or tissue samples are to be a core of brain tissue and spherical shells simulating the
extrapolated to mankind. As a result of this qualitative skull and the scalp indicated that hot spots or localized
approach, equations, empirical rules, or data for predicting regions of high energy absorption could occur in the center
reLiably the electromagnetic fields and the associated ther- of the brain with magnitudes much higher than observed at
mal and nonthermal effects anywhere in the human body the surface of the head due to the focusing of energy by the
for a given incident energy source were generally unavail- high dielectric constant and spherical shape of the head
able. (Shapiro et al. [161], Guy [71]). More extensive analyses
Anne [7], however, did derive approximate bulk absorp- using spherical, prolate spherical, and ellipsoidal models
tion characteristics for the human body for a given incident created a much better understanding of the absorbed en-
plane-wave field. This theoretical work was based on an ergy pat~erns in the bodies of man and animals exposed to
analysis of a perfect spherical shape, with the dielectric EM fields (Ho et al. [78], Durney et al. [38], Johnson et aL
characteristics of human tissues. The experimental work [86], Massoudi et al. [113], Gandhi [62], Allen et al. [3]),
was based on a phantom model consisting of a large bottle Theoretical work was being backed up by careful experi-
filled with a dioxae–water mixture. The dielectric proper- ments utilizing special temperature-sensing probes com-
ties of the liquid were adjusted to correspond to those of posed of microwave transparent materials such as fiber
human muscle, In addition to medical applications, work optics and miniature leads of low electrical conductivity
was also directed to the understanding of potential biologi- (Chen et al. [21], Hagmann et al. [72]). Finite-difference
cal hazards and methods for quantifying interaction of techniques and other numerical methods are being used in
electromagnetic fields with biological tissues. In the late computer programs for calculating EM-field and associ-
1950’s, the possibility of producing high field intensity, but ated heating patterns in arbitrarily shaped bodies more
nonthermal, “pearl chain” effects in biological fluids con- closely simulating man. Mathematical models were de-
GUY: HISTORY OF BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS AND MEDICAL APPLICATIONS OF MICROWAVE ENERGY 1193

veloped to include the effect of cooling mechanisms includ- in 1968 to protect the public from all forms of electromag-
ing blood flow for calculating steady-state temperatures in netic radiation, including microwaves that could be emitted
various parts of the body, including critical organs such as from manufactured electronic equipment, The new law,
the eyes and the brain (Emery et aL [42], 143]). Theoretical called the Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act of
analyses coupled with animal experiments indicated that 1968 [5], appeared simultaneously with the increasing sales
the long-known but unexplained microwave hearing effect of microwave ovens and a growing concern of the great
where individuals exposed to pulse radars could hear clicks difference between the Soviet and East European occupa-
and buzzing sounds was due to the conversion of micro- tional exposure standard and the ANSI standard. This
wave pulses to heat in the tissues of the head. The effect produced an immediate crunch between the microwave
previously was thought to be a nonthermal effect since the oven industry and the government.
threshold energy of a microwave pulse required to elicit the The microwave oven industry, represented by the As-
effect is sufficient to produce a temperature rise of only sociation of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), felt
10,-50 C. Though there were a number of theoretical that the ovens being manufactured were perfectly safe for
analyses suggesting the possibility of low-level nonthermal mass distribution to the public. They claimed that the oven
effects, the existence of such effects were still under dispute doors, the part of the oven most susceptible to micro wave
(Vogelhut [173], Grodsky [66], Frohlich [57]). leakage, were designed to limit microwave radiation values
to less than the accepted tolerance level of 10 mW/cmo2. It
VI. SAFEEXPOSURESTANDARDS also was stated that the doors were further protected with
In 1953, Schwan recommended that microwave radiation interlock switches to disable the microwave power source
of 10 mW/cm2 be accepted as a tolerance dose. Five years (usually 600-700 W) if the door was @advertently opened.
later, however, the Soviet Union promulgated an occupa- A government survey, on the other harid, at the time
tional standard limiting microwave exposure to only 10 indicated that an alarmingly high percentage of microwave
pW/cm2. Subsequently, after a review of all the experimen- ovens being used by the public were leaking microwave
tal data on animal exposure at that time, it was the energy to such an extent that riearby persons could be
conclusion of various American investigators that it re- exposed to energy levels far in” excess of 10 mW/cm2.
quired exposure levels in excess of 100 mW/cm2 to pro- Furthermore, the government was alarmed about the large
duce any effect of biological significance. On this basis, discrepancy between the established United States and
with a safety factor of ten, a maximum safe exposure level Soviet safety levels and the abundance .of Russian literat-
of 10 mW/cm2 was recommended by the United States of ure on the deleterious effects of low-level microwave radi-
America Standards Institute (USASI) in 1966. The stan- ation. They were also worried about the fact that American
dard specifying only power density was defined to cover scientists did not even agree with each other on vvhere
the frequency range 10 MHz–1OO GHz. Later, the name of safety levels should. be and also the fact that a high
USASI was changed to the American National Standards percentage of past research results were in doubt due to
Institute (ANSI), and the ANSI-C95 Committee responsi- lack of meaningful dosimetry. Consequently, in the spring
ble for the 1966 recommended guidelines continued its of 1970, armed with the new law, the Bureau of Radiologi-
work under the chairmanship of Prof. Saul Rosenthal of cal Health set the legal maximum radiation leakage level
the Brooklyn Polytechnical Institute (now the Polytechni- from microwave ovens to 1 mW\cm2 or less at the time of
cal Institute of New York). The charter of ANSI required delivery and no more than 5 mW/cm2 during the lifetime
that the exposure guide be in effect for only five years. At of the oven as measured 5 cm from the surface of any
the end of five years, ANSI had the choice of three possible portion of the oven. It should be noted that this was an
actions based on the recommendations of the C95 Commit- emission or performance standarcl based on limiting radia-
tee: 1) reaffirm the, guidelines with no change, 2) modify tion from a device in contrast to an exposure standard
the guidelines based on new information concerning ex- which specifies maximum exposure level for a human
posure hazards, or 3) withdraw the guidelines. Any one of subject. By the inverse square dependence of radiation
the three actions required z strong consensus by the mem- fields, a 1 mW/cm2 emission level 5 cm from the oven
bership of the C95 Committee. The membership of the would result in a 10 ~W/cm2 exposure level at 50 cm away.
Committee is required to be balanced with members repre- Since whole-body exposure would require that the subject
senting a) “government, b) industry, and c) the general be 50 cm or more away from the oven, the standard
public. The technical work and scientific recommendations provided the same degree of protection or better. for
concerning guidelines for safe use of radio-frequency elec- whole-body exposure as the Soviet occupational standard.
tromagnetic fields is carried out by various subcommittees The new performance standard resulted in a clamor of
with memberships comprised of scientists with expertise on protests from AHAM, who claimed that there was no basis
the particular problem addressed by the subcommittee. for lowering the standard and it could result in prohibitive
Subcommittee IV has always been responsible for the manufacturing costs. It was claimed that these restrictions
guidelines pertaining to human health. would hinder the widespread use of microwave ovens.
In the 1960’s, a segment of the population was exposed At the beginning of the the ANSI C95 IV Subcommittee
to excessive X-ray radiation emitted from certain color began a series of meetings to respond to growing criticisms
television sets. This prompted Congress to pass legislation of the 1966 guidelines. The committee was not able to act
1194 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQLJES, VOL. MTT-32,NO. 9, SEPTEMBER 1984

in time for the required 1971 five-year action on the VII. PROFESSIONALSOCIETIES,GOVERNMENTAL
guidelines, and through much controversy and heated dis- ORGANIZATIONS, LABORATORIES,AND RESEARCH
cussions was forced to reaffirm the 10 mW/cm2 standard PROGRAMS
in 1974. It was stated that there was insufficient informa-
tion in the available data base to make any quantitative This paper will not be complete without discussing the
modification of the guidelines, The guidelines were changed role professional societies and various government pro-
slightly, however, to specify the maximum equivalent rms grams have played in shaping the history of the bioelectro-
electric (200 V/m) and magnetic (0.5 A/m) field strengths magnetics field. The first society dealing extensively with
consistent with values corresponding to a radiation power the subject was the American Electrotherapeutics Associa-
density of 10 mW/cm2 [10]. The Committee released a tion, which in 1898 provided a forum for Tesla’s lectures
publication discussing the problems with the existing data on therapeutic applications of RF current (Susskind [169]).
base and recommended the type of research needed for In the early 1930’s and later, the American Congress of
refining the guidelines (Johnson [84], [85]). Physical Medicine devoted considerable attention to the
With the mushrooming research of the late 1970’s pro- medical applications of radio frequency energy through
viding more quantitative research results, the ANSI C95 their journals and international conferences [169]. Many of
Committee (again, three years later than the required time) the research and clinical reports dealing with the subject up
promulgated new guidelines (ANSI C95.1, 1982) that until the mid-1960’s appeared in physical medicine periodi-
answered many of the criticisms directed at the old guide- cals such as the American Journal of Physical Medicine and
lines. The guidelines, covering a new frequency range of the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; how-
300 kHz-100 GHz, limited the maximum average rate of ever, on rare occasions the PROCEEDINGSOF THE IEEE and
absorbed energy in an exposed person to 0.4 W/kg, This some of the IEEE TRANSACTIONSpublished articles on the
was considered safe by a factor of 10 from the 4 W/kg subject. The first engineering organization devoting con-
threshold for harmful effects in exposed animals, This tinuous attention to the field was the International Micro-
basis required that the actual maximum exposure levels wave Power Institute (IMPI) founded in 1966. In the
change with frequency according to the absorption char- following years, IMPI held annual symposia and published
acteristics of the human body. The guidelines were recom- a periodical called the Journal of Microwave Power ad-
mended for both occupational and general population ex- dressing peacetime nonradar and noncommunication ap-
posures. In spite of the wave of criticisms from some plications of microwaves including medical and biological.
quarters that the standard was not conservative enough, it The first nonmilitary government laboratory dealing with
became a benchmark for nongovernmental and govern- the bioelectromagnetics field was the Bureau of Radiologi-
mental standards and one international standard. The cal Health (BRH), which was given responsibility within
American Conference of Industrial and Governmental Hy- the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW)
gienists have adopted a standard similar to the ANSI in 1968 by the Radiation Control for Health and Safety
standard, except it extended the guidelines set for 300 kHz Act to carry out and sponsor research and to develop
down to 10 kHz. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts safety criteria concerning health effects of the radiation
adopted the ANSI standard for occupational exposures but emitted by electronic products. BRH began its mission by
lowered the frequency-dependent exposure level by a factor sponsoring a symposium devoted entirely to the health
of five for the general population. The Massachusetts effects of nonionizing radiation which was the first held in
standard was also adopted by Multnomah County, OR. the country since the years of the Tri-Service work. The
The International Radiation Protection Association meeting held in cooperation with the Medical College of
(IRPA, 1984),1 which has members from the Soviet Union Virginia, in Richmond, in 1969, was designed to help HEW
and East European countries as well as from the United evaluate the potential hazards of microwave radiation.
States and Western countries, recommended the ANSI However, the meeting indicated that consideri~bly more
guidelines for occupational exposures and exposure levels scientific information was needed to dispell the differences
similar to the Massachusetts criteria for the general popu- between two schools of thought: 1) the existing 10ImW/cm2
lation. Currently, the National Institute of Occupational ANSI standard was adequate or 2) the 195810 pW/cm2
Safety and Health (NIOSH) is seeking agreement on a Soviet standard was more realistic. Following the 1968
legal standard for enforcement by the Occupational Safety Radiation Control Act, a committee called the Technical
and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Environmen- Electronic Product Radiation Safety and Standards Com-
tal Protection Agency (EPA) is in the process of recom- mittee (TEPRSSC), comprised of members from industry
mending guidelines to various government agencies for and the private sector, was formed to advise BRH concern-
limiting exposures of the general population from radio ing their work on electronic device safety. Also in the same
frequency energy emitted by equipment or systems they year, the Electromagnetic Management Advisory Council
use or control. (ERMAC) was formed under the Office of Telecommuni-
cations Policy under the Executive Office of the President
to coordinate programs and influence research funding on
1IRPA, “ Interum guidelineson limits of exposureto RF EM fieldsin
the frequencyrangefrom 100kW–300 GHz,” Health Hzys., vol. 46, no. the biological effects problem by the various governmental
4, PP. 975-984, 1984. agencies. The ERMAC held a number of public meetings
GUY: HISTORY OF BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS AND MEDICAL APPLICATIONS OF MICROWAVE ENERGY “1195

over a period of years reviewing the work and making The year 1972 marked an increasing awareness and
recommendations concerning the research programs of a concern by the public of nonionizing radiation hazards
number of governmental agencies and their contractors. which stemmed from a number of news and journal articles.
Later, in 1970, coordination between governmental agen- The articles stressed some of the more bizarre reported
cies on the problem increased further in the form of effects, the lack of knowledge concerning these effects, and
Department of Commerce’s Interagency Task Force on the big difference in the world safety standards on non-
Biological Effects of Nonionizing Electromagnetic Radia- ionizing radiation. A number of these articles were some-
tion (BENER). The same year, the U.S. Navy proposed the what sensational in nature and out of perspective with ‘true
construction of a large buried ELF communication an- state-of-art and knowledge of the field. The Consumers
tenna in the State of Michigan, which triggered a con- Union went so far as to recommend against the purchase
troversy about possible health side effects that has raged of a microwave oven if any microwave leakage from it
until the present time with the project stopped by a recent could be detected. The widespread confusion and public
court injunction. The project sought a friendly home in misunderstanding arising from the media coverage
states ranging from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. prompted the IEEE in 1972 to form a Committee on Man
The pubhc-resistance to the project based on fears of and Radiation (COMAR) to respond to irresponsible
health side effects stimulated a large research program by journalism relating to EM radiation effects in the form of
the U.S. Navy for assessing the health effects of ELF public education and position papers. Meantime, govern-
fields. This concern about the ELF effects eventually led to mental involvement in the problem area increased with the
similar concern and controversy relating to 60-Hz high- formation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
voltage power lines, which in turn stimulated additional in 1972. This was not without impacting, however, the
funding for research on ELF effects by the Department of newly functioning BRH laboratory, which had built up an
Energy (DOE), the Electric Power Research Institute interdisciplinary group of engineers and life scientists to
(EPRI), and the Public Health Department of the State of carry out research on the problem. By governmental edict,
New York. half of the interdisciplinary scientists and engineers of the
With the growing concern and controversy, scientific laboratory transferred to EPA to form another laboratory
and engineering societies began to take action to educate devoted to the RF-bioeffects research area. The precursor
their members as well as play a part in public education for East–West scientific cooperation on the subject
concerning the state of the art of the field. The IEEE MTT occurred in 1972, with the signing of the agreement be-
Society became involved in the early 1970’s by setting up a tween Nixon and Brezhnev, on environmental health ex-
Technical Committee on the Biological Effects of Micro- change. The East–West cooperation actually began with
wave Radiation, adding engineering experts on biological sponsorship of the First International Symposium on Bio-
effects to their Administrative Committee and in 1971 logical Effects and Health Hazards of Microwave Radia-
publishing a Transactions Special Issue devoted entirely to tion near Warsaw, in 1973, by the U.S. HEW, the Polish
the problem of biological effects of microwaves, with in- Ministry of Health, and the World Health Organization
vited papers from researchers from the old Tri-Services (WHO). The first dialog and information exchange be-
group and the group of emerging new researchers involved tween the Soviet, East-Bloc and Western-country
with the problem. Various agencies in the government researchers and public health specialists occurred at this
charged with funding scientific research also took action to meeting with the results documented in a bound proceed-
educate themselves, The National Science Foundation ings [180]. Following the Warsaw meeting, there was an
NSF) held a special workshop at the University of Col- acceleration of bioeffects research in both the U.S. and the
orado for assessing priorities and research needs pertaining U. S.S.R., as well as other countries. This was followed by a
to the problem in 1971. This set the stage for NSF funding formal agreement signed in 1975 between the National
of.’interdisciplinary research on the subject which coincided Institute of Environmental Sciences for the U.S.A. and the
with increased funding of interdisciplinary research by Kiev Marzeev Institute for Communal and General Hy-
many governmental agencies. With the increase in new giene representing the U. S.S.R., under the umbrella of the
research results there was a clamor by various professional Environmental Health Agreement, to engage in cooperative
societies to sponsor sessions in their annual symposia or research and scientific exchange on the microwave biologi-
publish papers in their journals on the latest biological cal effects.
effects research. The U.S. National Committee of URSI In 1974, the International Council on Radiation Protec-
began including such papers in their meetings beginning in tion Measurements (NCRP), an organization previously
1971, the biannual Conference on Precision Electromag- chartered by Congress for providing ionizing radiation
netic Measurements (CPEM) in 1972, and by 1973 the advice and education to the public and the scientific com-
IEEE MTT Society began to compete strongly with IMPI munity, expanded their activities to the area of nonionizing
on the number of biological effects papers presented in radiation and electing a number of scientists and engineers
their annual symposia. The MTT-S Committee on Biologi- involved with nonionizing radiation to its membership, An
cal Effects of Microwaves invited biological effects and NCRP scientific committee was formed to begin work on a
microwave dosimetry papers for inclusion in the TRANSAC- report specifying appropriate quantities and units for use
TIONS and annual symposia. in nonionizing radiation research and safety standard work.
1196 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. MTT32, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER 1984

By 1975, the engineering and scientific community involved USNC/URSI meeting in Seattle, in 1979; In the following
with the bioeffects research was frustrated by its need to year, BEMS introduced their quarterly Journal of Bioelec-
interact with so many scientific societies and organizations tromagnetics and began to hold annual biological effects
and to monitor so many different journals in order to keep meetings independent of URSI. Since that time, a number
current with the field, It was agreed by the majority of of new societies have formed with attention devoted to
researchers in the field that the time had come for an specialized areas of bioelectromagnetics, including the Bio-
annual conference to be established, at which all researchers electric Repair and Growth Society (BRAGS) and the
could gather simultaneously to present their research find- Bioelectric Chemistry Society (BES).
ings. It was felt at the time, that URSI provided the best
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1200 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. MTT32, NO. 9, SBPTEMRER 1984

Health and Social Welfare-Poland, (1974). Proceedings of an Inter- employed by the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of
national Symposium on Biologic Effects and Health Hazards of Washington, conducting research on VLF antennas buried in polar ice
Microwave Radiation, Warsaw, Poland, Oct. 15-18, 1973. caps. At that time, he also served as Consultant to the Department of
[181] R. P. Zimmer, H. A. Ecker, and V. P, Popovic, “Selective electro- Rehabilitation Medicine, working on problems associated with the effect
.. . .—
magnetic heating of tumors in animafs in deep hypothermia,” of electromagnetic fields on living tissue. In 1966, he joined the faculty of
IEEE Trans. Microwave Theog Tech., vol. MTT-19, pp. 232-238, the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. Presently, he is a Professor in
1971. the Center for Bioengineering, has a joint appointment as Professor in
Rehabilitation Medicine and adjunct Professor in Electrical Engineering.
Dr. Guy is involved in teaching and research in the area of biological
effects and medicaf applications of electromagnetic energy.
*
He is a member of COMAR, ANSI C-95 Committee, and chairman of
the 1970–1982 Subcommittee IV that developed the protection guides for
human exposures to radio frequency fields iri 1974 fid 1982, N~RP, and
Arthur W. Guy (S’54-M57-SM74-F’77) was chairman of Scientific Committee 53 responsible for biological effects and
born in Helena,MT, on December10, 1928.He exposure criteria for radio frequency fields, Armed Forces Nationaf
receivedthe B.S.degreein 1955,the M.S.degree Research Council Committee on Vison Working Group 35, Commission
in 1957,and the Ph.D. degreein 1966,afl in A Radio Measurement Methods and URSI, ERMAC, and the EPA
electrical engineering,from the University of Scientific Advisory Board Subcommittee on Biological Effects of Radio
Washington,Seattle. frequency Fields. Dr. Guy afso serves as a consultant to the NIEHS on
From 1947to 1950andfrom 1951to 1952,he the USSR-US Environmental Heatth Cooperative Program, and was a
servedin the U.S. Air Force as an Electronic’s member of the NIH Diagnostic Radiology Study Section 1979–1983. Dr.
Technician.Between1957and 1964,he was a Guy is a member of the editoriaf boards of the Journal of Microwave
ResearchEngineer in the Antenna Research Power and IEEE TRANSACTIONSON MICROWAVE TIIEORY AND TECH-
~rouo.
—–––,, Boeinz Aeros~aceCommnv. Seattle. NIQUES, and is current president of the Bioelectromagnetics Society.
While there, his field included researc~ on br~ad-band a;d ‘%icrowave Dr. Guy holds memberships in Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi, and
devices, surface-wave antennas, propagation through anisotropic dielec- Sigma XI. He is also a member of the American Association for the
trics, and antennas buried in 10SSYmedia. Between 1964 and 1966, he was Advancement of Science.

A History of Microwave Heating

Applications
JOHN M. OSEPCHUK

Abstract —The developmentof microwaveheatiugapplicationsis re- 1. INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE

viwed. This field has followed the earlier application of lower RF frequen-
ONCOMMUNICATION applications of microwave
ciesto induction and dielectric heating. Serious activity begau after World
War II, directed towards a microwave oveu for commercial aud residential
use. Tke broadeuirsg of interest to include scientific and industrial applica-
N power include medical applications, such as diathermy
or hyperthermia and microwave-power transmission. These
tions followed in the early sixties as new markets for microwave power areas are reviewed by A. W, Guy and W. C. Brown,
sources were sought. The creation of the International Microwave Power
respectively, in separate articles in this Special Issue of the
Institute was one result. The marketing of a countertop microwave oven for
consumers gave birth to the economically important oven business in the TRANSACTIONS.The remainder of such power applications
sixties. The growth of this field has heen marked, perhaps slowed, by a corresponds almost completely to that of healing, and this
series of soeiotechuical events questioning the safety of microwave ex- is reviewed here. Heating applications exist in consumer,
posure near high-power microwave systems. Although some of this bus commercial, scientific, and industrial areas, The outstand-
receded, a problem of public education remairrs for those who will expand
ing application area is that of the consumer microwave
this field. The future development of this field will exploit a broader
number of operating frequencies and will be ultimately limited by environ- oven and, therefore, this is given more attention herein, it
mental regulations related to electromagnetic compatibility (or RFl), rather being the only widespread consumer application of micro-
than safe exposure of biological tissue. waves, in general.
It is not the intent, here, to review all noncommunication
Manuscript received February 14, 1984.
applications or all consumer applications. Instead, only
The author is with the Raytheon Research Division, Lexington, MA
02173. heating applications are covered here, but there is some

0018-9480/84/0900-1200$01.00 01984 IEEE