NO NONTHERMAL EFFECT OBSERVED UNDER MICROWAVE IRRADIATION OF SPINAL-CORD

The paper presents an in vivo experiment concerning cerebral evoked po tentials in the presence and in the absence of microwaves irradiating the spinal cord. An electrical stimulus is applied on the peripheral n ervous system of a rabbit while the impulse response (evoked potential ) is measured by an electrode in the cortex. The spinal cord is irradi ated at 4.2-GHz by an implanted micro-antenna. The purpose of the expe riment is to distinguish between thermal and possible nonthermal effec ts. A statistical treatment of the recorded data shows that there is a microwave effect. Power deposition is calculated. The bioheat equatio n indicates that the microwave irradiation results in a temperature in crease within the spinal cord. Nonthermal effects were not observed.