RF/Microwave Delivery Systems for Therapeutic Applications - RF/Microwave Interaction with Biological Tissues - page 287

variation measured as a function of balloon extension in an artery at around
2.45 GHz.
For the sake of completeness, it is our intention to mention (rather than
detail) the following additional research conducted throughout the world
utilizing microwave in cardiology:

1. The effect of microwave therapy upon the functional state of the car-
diovascular system in patients with hypertension [128].
2. The pacemaker protective undershirt [129].
3. Control of arrhythmia in the isolated heart by means of microwaves
[130].
4. The application of microwave to acupoints for the treatment of coronary
heart disease [131].

1. In his paper entitled “The effect of microwave therapy upon the func-
tional state of the cardiovascular system in patients with hypertension,” A. D.
Fastykovsky of the Department of Physiotherapy and Resort Treatment, Kiev,
Ukrainian SSR, describes the effect of microwave treatment at 2.375 GHz on
the order of 20-50 W [128] in 95 patients with hypertension and other cardio-
vascular disease. The results on hypertension are only cited. Microwave energy
was applied to the portal zone by means of a rectangular emitter having the
dimensions of 30 9 cm from a distance of 7-10 cm. The power was delivered

for 10 min daily for a course of treatment of 12-15 days. The results cited in
the paper are summarized as follows: Prior to the treatment, the mean systolic
arterial pressure measured at the brachial arteries was 167.7

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+ 2.39 mm Hg

and diastolic pressure of 95.8 + 1.0 mm Hg, whereas following the treatment

it decreased to 139.0 + 2.28 mm Hg and 87.6 + 0.89 mm Hg, respectively

( P 0.001).

2. The subject of a pacemaker protective cloth is a relatively mature one.
Research in this general area was done in the United States as well as in
Europe and is summarized in the paper entitled “Pacemaker protective under-
shirt” [129]. In that paper, the authors describe a protective undershirt made
of metallized textile fabric which retains most textile properties such as light-
ness and comfort and at the same time has the characteristics of a reliable
shielding material to EM radiation. In experiments conducted at the Pace-
maker Center UCL, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, the authors report having demon-
strated that the function of a pacemaker could be affected by a microwave
field but that, by introducing the protective undershirt, EM interference with
the operation of the pacemaker ceased.
3. Evidence of low-level microwave effects on both living and isolated
hearts has been reported in the last 25 years. Investigation in the early 1980s
of noninvasive irradiation to control heartbeat resulted in failure. More
recently, C. C. Tamburello et al. of the Department of Electrical Engineering,
Palermo, Italy, have investigated the effect of microwave irradiation on iso-

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