ABSTRACT
Medicine in the 21-century is characterized by an increasing variety of diagnostic and therapeutic devices that implement magnetic and electromagnetic field (EMF) that utilize time-varying signals. It is also important for the scientific and medical communities to comprehend that different magnetic fields (MFs) applied to different tissues could cause different effects. MF/EMF modalities are usually applied rather than regular pharmaceuticals, offering a plausible alternative with fewer, if any, side effects. Magnetic-field-dependent modalities can be categorized into five groups: static MFs, low-frequency EMFs, pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs), pulsed radiofrequency fields (PRFs), and microwave fields. Biophysical dosimetry is mainly dosimetry of the MFs. It should be taken into account that any time-varying MF induces EF, which in some cases might be of importance in analysis and interpretation of the observed effects. This chapter deals with the principal difference in the biophysical and engineering approaches to biological mechanisms of EMF-initiated bioeffects.
