Ultra-wideband electromagnetic pulses: lack of effects on heart rate and blood pressure during two-minute exposures of rats.
Exposure to fast-rise-time ultra-wideband (UWB) electromagnetic pulses has been postulated to result in effects on biological tissue (including the cardiovascular system). In the current study, 10 anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to pulses produced by a Sandia UWB pulse generator (average values of exposures over three different pulse repetition rates: rise time, 174-218 ps; peak E field, 87-104 kV/m; pulse duration, 0.97-0.99 ns). Exposures to 50, 500 and 1000 pulses/s resulted in no significant changes in heart rate or mean arterial blood pressure measured every 30 s during 2 min of exposure and for 2 min after the exposure. The results suggest that acute UWB whole-body exposure under these conditions does not have an immediate detrimental effect on these cardiovascular system variables in anesthetized rats.
Directed Energy Bioeffects Division, U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (Armstrong Research Site), Brooks Air Force Base, Texas 78235-5324, USA. james.jauchem@aloer.brooks.af.mil
J R
JR
Jauchem
R L
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Seaman
H M
HM
Lehnert
S P
SP
Mathur
K L
KL
Ryan
M R
MR
Frei
W D
WD
Hurt
D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013997:Time Factors