This work presents the design and characterization of a thermoregulated, bandwidth-enhanced TEM cell system optimized for bioelectromagnetic experiments on biological cells, with a focus on bioluminescence resonance energy transfer investigations at 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz. Bandwidth improvement, achieved through geometric modifications and optimized connector transitions, resulted in reduced return and insertion losses and improved field uniformity, particularly in the 2.5–6 GHz range. Numerical simulations showed homogeneous electric field and normalized specific absorption rate (SAR) distributions (~1 W/kg) at 700 MHz. At 3.5 GHz, the improved TEM cell provided the most uniform exposure of the biological sample with SAR values of 15 W/kg and 10.5 W/kg, for the bulk and surface (bottom layer), respectively. Experimental SAR measurements using a ~1 mm3 fluoro-optic probe agreed well with simulations. To counteract RF-induced heating, the system incorporated active thermoregulation at 37 °C. At 3.5 GHz and 20 W input power, a 1.5 °C rise over 120 s was effectively mitigated using water-circulation cooling. This work provides a controlled and reliable setup for future studies on the interaction of 5G-band electromagnetic fields with biological systems.
Nasri et al. (Tue,) studied this question.