An Analytical Framework for Frequency-Dependent Electromagnetic Power Absorption in Biological Tissues

TL;DR

This paper develops an analytical physics-based framework from Maxwell's equations to model electromagnetic power absorption in biological tissues, providing insights into frequency-dependent behavior across tissue types.

Contribution

It introduces closed-form expressions for electromagnetic fields and power absorption metrics in tissues, enabling detailed analysis of frequency-dependent absorption characteristics.

Findings

Higher water content increases dielectric loss and reduces penetration depth.

Low-water tissues exhibit lower attenuation and deeper penetration.

Frequency shifts power absorption from reflection to superficial layers.

Abstract

As exposure to electromagnetic waves becomes increasingly widespread, it is important to quantify how incident fields couple into biological tissue and where absorbed energy is deposited. This work presents an analytical, physics based framework derived from Maxwell's equations to model the propagation of a normally incident electromagnetic plane wave within homogeneous, lossy dielectric biological tissues. Closed-form expressions for the electric and magnetic fields are derived, enabling the determination of frequency-dependent power reflectance and transmittance at the air-tissue interface, as well as the power absorption coefficient and penetration depth within the medium. Using complex relative permittivity data from the literature, we examine six tissue types across a broad frequency range (1 MHz to 100 GHz). The results demonstrate that higher water content significantly increases dielectric loss and reduces penetration depth. Conversely, low-water tissues (e.g., non-infiltrated fat) exhibit lower attenuation and deeper penetration. Frequency is shown to be a dominant driver of this behavior, with higher frequencies shifting the power budget from reflection-limited coupling toward highly superficial absorption. These findings provide a foundation basis for exposure assessments and the design of emerging electromagnetic technologies.