Heating rate modeling and measurements in phantom and in vivo of the human upper extremity in a defective 2450 MHz microwave oven.

Multiple door interlock switches in commercial microwave ovens are designed to prevent accidental exposure and injury. We report a) heating rate (degree/sec) measurements in a phantom of the human upper extremity in a 2450 MHz microwave oven having interlock switches deliberately bypassed; b) skin temperature measurements on the upper extremity of a human volunteer similarly exposed; c) perception of warmth and pain experienced by the volunteer during exposure; d) thermographic camera recordings of the volunteer's skin; and e) finite element modeling of specific absorption rate (SAR) in the volunteer's hand. Moderately severe pain was experienced at the fingertips after 5 sec of exposure, consistent with the modeled SAR, measured heating rates, and published data on the temperature threshold for pain. We estimate that an additional 9 sec of exposure would be required to produce irreversible injury, consisting of focal thermal injury in the fingertips and possibly the thenar and hypothenar eminences.

Duke Scholars

Author Shiva Kumar Das Radiation Oncology