Detailed Dielectric Characterisation of the Heart and Great Vessels

The dielectric properties of biological tissues play a significant role in the planning and development of electromagnetic thermal therapies. In most cases in the literature, heart is considered as a homogeneous organ and its dielectric properties values are reported as such. In this paper, the results of dielectric property measurements on nineteen different parts of four ovine hearts are presented. The results of the measurements indicate that the dielectric properties vary between the different parts of the heart and therefore, the heart should not be considered to be homogeneous for accurate electromagnetic modelling.