Thesis title: Electromagnetic Fields and Human Health: Vital Signs Monitoring and Dosimetry Assessment
Electromagnetic fields play a fundamental role in nowadays life. Recent technological advances have lead to a constantly increasing diffusion of devices operating at radio frequency (RF), microwave and millimeter waves (MMW) frequencies. Part of these devices are intentionally designed to interact with the human body for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes, while others, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, mobile telecommunications infrastructure and phones, rely on electromagnetic fields to operate and interact with the human body accidentally. This thesis focuses on the study of these interactions through two main topics: the design of a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radars for vital signs monitoring and the development of high-resolution heterogeneous tissue-equivalent models at MMW. In the former, the contributions of this thesis include: (i) the design and realization of a wideband and side lobe level (SLL) series fed array used (ii) to investigate the ability of an FMCW radar to measure vital signs independently of the thorax orientation towards the antenna,
and (iii) the design and in vivo test of a single-input and single-output (SISO) FMCW radar system implementing frequency scanning antennas for the contextual localization and vital signs measurements of multiple targets. Regarding the latter, this thesis contributes a dosimetric study at the upcoming frequencies for the 5th generation (5G) bands via the development of near-surface tissue models to study the effect of the electromagnetic power absorption and consequent temperature rise (i) as a consequence of ageing and (ii) in presence of textiles in contact and in proximity of the skin.