Design and Dosimetric Analysis of a Whole-Body Exposure Setup for Investigating Possible Effects of 50 Hz Magnetic Fields on Sleep and Markers of Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

A new whole-body exposure facility for a randomized, double-blind, cross-over provocation study investigating possible effects of 50 Hz magnetic field exposure on sleep and markers of Alzheimer's disease has been developed and dosimetrically analyzed. The exposure facility was custom-tailored for the sleep laboratory where the study was carried out and enables magnetic flux densities of up to 30 μT with a maximum field inhomogeneity of less than ± 20%. Exposure is applied fully software-controlled and in a blinded and randomized manner. The orientation of the applied magnetic field vector is varied by the control software to create a uniformly distributed set of field vector orientations throughout each experimental session. A numerical dosimetric analysis of the exposure facility was carried out using several high-resolution anatomical body models. Induced electric field strengths in the range of 0.5–0.6 mV/m (99.9th percentile of 2 × 2 × 2 mm³ averaged induced electric field strength E_i) inside the brain at an external exposure level of 30 μT were obtained for magnetic field vector orientations along the three main axes (front-back, left-right, head-feet). Statistics of volume averaged values of E_i, analyzed for several hundred different brain regions of gray matter, under exposure with varying magnetic field vector orientations yield value ranges of 0.001–0.065 mV/m (minima), 0.025–0.21 mV/m (mean values), and 0.033–0.34 mV/m (maxima). The developed exposure facility was successfully deployed in a recently completed experimental study. Bioelectromagnetics. 00:00–00, 2025. © 2025 © 2025 Bioelectromagnetics Society.