Recent studies of the minute morphology of the skin by optical coherence tomography showed that the sweat ducts
in human skin become helically shaped tubes in the Epidermis and are filled with an aqueous solution. When
considered as entities embedded in a dielectric media, they resemble helical antennas. The spectral response
obtained by our computer simulations coincides with the analytical prediction of antenna theory and support this
hypothesis, if a fast enough current mechanism exists in the duct. In particular the strongest spectral response of the
simulation was noted around the predicted frequencies (240 GHz and 380 GHz) for the respective normal and axial
modes of the helical structure. Furthermore, circular dichroism of the reflected electromagnetic field is a
characteristic property of such helical antennas and it was shown that it is indeed a characteristic of the simulation
model. Fast proton hopping is posited as the current mechanism.
Consequently experimental evidence is presented that the spectral response of the skin in the sub-Terahertz region is
governed by the level of activity of the perspiration system. This in turn is moderated by the Sympathetic Nerve
Response and is demonstrated by the correlation to physiological stress as manifested by the pulse rate and the
systolic blood pressure. These physical relaxations are tonic in nature (lasting more than a minute). Could the phasic
characteristic of emotional excitation also be evident in the reflection coefficient? By applying techniques borrowed
from psychiatric science we hope to answer this point in our paper.
Conference Committee Involvement (2)
Terahertz and Ultrashort Electromagnetic Pulses for Biomedical Applications
2 February 2014 | San Francisco, California, United States
Terahertz and Ultrashort Electromagnetic Pulses for Biomedical Applications
6 February 2013 | San Francisco, California, United States
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