{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,14]],"date-time":"2026-01-14T16:21:43Z","timestamp":1768407703410,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2016,2,1]],"date-time":"2016-02-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1454284800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003130","name":"Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["3G004612"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["3G004612"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003130","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002749","name":"Federaal Wetenschapsbeleid","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["7\/23: BESTCOM"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["7\/23: BESTCOM"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002749","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This paper describes, for the first time, the procedure for the full design, calibration, uncertainty analysis, and practical application of a personal, distributed exposimeter (PDE) for the detection of personal exposure in the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) downlink (DL) band around 900 MHz (GSM 900 DL). The PDE is a sensor that consists of several body-worn antennas. The on-body location of these antennas is investigated using numerical simulations and calibration measurements in an anechoic chamber. The calibration measurements and the simulations result in a design (or on-body setup) of the PDE. This is used for validation measurements and indoor radio frequency (RF) exposure measurements in Ghent, Belgium. The main achievements of this paper are: first, the demonstration, using both measurements and simulations, that a PDE consisting of multiple on-body textile antennas will have a lower measurement uncertainty for personal RF exposure than existing on-body sensors; second, a validation of the PDE, which proves that the device correctly estimates the incident power densities; and third, a demonstration of the usability of the PDE for real exposure assessment measurements. To this aim, the validated PDE is used for indoor measurements in a residential building in Ghent, Belgium, which yield an average incident power density of 0.018 mW\/m\u00b2.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s16020180","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2016,2,1]],"date-time":"2016-02-01T10:03:26Z","timestamp":1454321006000},"page":"180","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["A Personal, Distributed Exposimeter: Procedure for Design, Calibration, Validation, and Application"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Arno","family":"Thielens","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Technology, Ghent University\/iMinds, Gaston Crommenlaan 8, Ghent B-9050, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Vanveerdeghem","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Technology, Ghent University\/iMinds, Gaston Crommenlaan 8, Ghent B-9050, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Patrick","family":"Van Torre","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Technology, Ghent University\/iMinds, Gaston Crommenlaan 8, Ghent B-9050, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Stephanie","family":"G\u00e4ngler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Socinstrasse 57, Basel 4051, Switzerland"},{"name":"University of Basel, Basel 4051, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7475-1531","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martin","family":"R\u00f6\u00f6sli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Socinstrasse 57, Basel 4051, Switzerland"},{"name":"University of Basel, Basel 4051, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8139-2736","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hendrik","family":"Rogier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Technology, Ghent University\/iMinds, Gaston Crommenlaan 8, Ghent B-9050, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luc","family":"Martens","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Technology, Ghent University\/iMinds, Gaston Crommenlaan 8, Ghent B-9050, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wout","family":"Joseph","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Technology, Ghent University\/iMinds, Gaston Crommenlaan 8, Ghent B-9050, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,2,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"494","article-title":"International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. Guidelines for limiting exposure to time-varying electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields (up to 300 GHz)","volume":"74","author":"Ahlbom","year":"1998","journal-title":"Health Phys."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"471","DOI":"10.1002\/bem.20417","article-title":"Statistical analysis of personal radiofrequency electromagnetic field measurements with nondetects","volume":"29","author":"Frei","year":"2008","journal-title":"Bioelectromagnetics"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"652","DOI":"10.1002\/bem.20677","article-title":"Calibration and uncertainties in personal exposure measurements of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields","volume":"32","author":"Bolte","year":"2011","journal-title":"Bioelectromagnetics"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"133","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envint.2012.07.006","article-title":"Personal radiofrequency electromagnetic field measurements in the Netherlands: Exposure level and variability for everyday activities, times of day and types of area","volume":"48","author":"Bolte","year":"2012","journal-title":"Environ. Int."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"535","DOI":"10.1002\/bem.20587","article-title":"The association between exposure determined by radiofrequency personal exposimeters and human exposure: A simulation study","volume":"31","author":"Neubauer","year":"2010","journal-title":"Bioelectromagnetics"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"563","DOI":"10.1002\/bem.21793","article-title":"Personal Distributed Exposimeter for Radio Frequency Exposure Assessment in Real Environments","volume":"34","author":"Thielens","year":"2013","journal-title":"Bioelectromagnetics"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gryz, K., Zradzi\u0144ski, P., and Karpowicz, J. (2015). The Role of the Location of Personal Exposimeters on the Human Body in Their Use for Assessing Exposure to the Electromagnetic Field in the Radiofrequency Range 98\u20132450 MHz and Compliance Analysis: Evaluation by Virtual Measurements. BioMed Res. Int.","DOI":"10.1155\/2015\/272460"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"118","DOI":"10.1002\/BEM.21888","article-title":"Assessment of human body influence in exposure measurements of electric field in indoor enclosures","volume":"36","author":"Ramos","year":"2015","journal-title":"Bioelectromagnetics"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"221","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envres.2015.06.029","article-title":"Validity of at home model predictions as a proxy for personal exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from mobile phone base stations","volume":"142","author":"Martens","year":"2015","journal-title":"Environ. Res."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1038\/jes.2013.40","article-title":"Electromagnetic field exposure assessment in Europe radiofrequency fields (10\u2009MHz\u20136\u2009GHz)","volume":"25","author":"Ravazzani","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Expo. Sci. Environ. Epidemiol."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"70","DOI":"10.1093\/rpd\/ncu057","article-title":"Typical exposure of children to EMF: Exposimetry and dosimetry","volume":"163","author":"Blaz","year":"2015","journal-title":"Radiat. Protect. Dosim."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"293","DOI":"10.1097\/HP.0b013e31827ca667","article-title":"Radiofrequency Exposure in Greek Indoor Environments","volume":"104","author":"Markakis","year":"2013","journal-title":"Heal. Phys."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.1002\/bem.21830","article-title":"Extensive Frequency Selective Measurements of Radiofrequency Fields in Outdoor Environments Performed with a Novel Mobile Monitoring System","volume":"35","author":"Estenberg","year":"2014","journal-title":"Bioelectromagnetics"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"58","DOI":"10.1093\/rpd\/ncu056","article-title":"On-body Calibration and Processing for a Combination of Two Radio Frequency Personal Exposimeters","volume":"163","author":"Thielens","year":"2015","journal-title":"Radiat. Protect. Dosim."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"407","DOI":"10.1097\/HP.0000000000000238","article-title":"On-body Calibration and Measurements using a Personal, Distributed Exposimeter for Wireless Fidelity","volume":"108","author":"Thielens","year":"2015","journal-title":"Heal. Phys."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1534","DOI":"10.1109\/LAWP.2014.2368597","article-title":"Whole-Body Averaged Specific Absorption Rate Estimation using a Personal, Distributed Exposimeter","volume":"14","author":"Thielens","year":"2015","journal-title":"IEEE Antennas Wirel. Propag. Lett."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"573","DOI":"10.1002\/bem.20355","article-title":"Potential exposure assessment errors associated with body-worn RF dosimeters","volume":"28","author":"Blas","year":"2007","journal-title":"Bioelectromagnetics"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"51","DOI":"10.1093\/rpd\/ncn275","article-title":"E-Field Assessment Errors Associated with RF Dosemeters for Different Angles of Arrival","volume":"132","author":"Bahillo","year":"2008","journal-title":"Radiat. Prot. Dosim."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"25","DOI":"10.1093\/rpd\/ncp309","article-title":"Factors Influencing Uncertainty in Measurement of Electric Fields Close to the Body in Personal RF Dosimetry","volume":"140","author":"Iskra","year":"2010","journal-title":"Radiat. Protect. Dosim."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"517","DOI":"10.1093\/rpd\/ncq580","article-title":"Monte Carlo simulations of the electric field close to the body in realistic environments for application in personal radiofrequency dosimetry","volume":"147","author":"Iskra","year":"2011","journal-title":"Radiat. Protect. Dosim."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4393","DOI":"10.1109\/JSEN.2015.2420583","article-title":"Compact Personal Distributed Wearable Exposimeter","volume":"15","author":"Vanveerdeghem","year":"2015","journal-title":"IEEE Sens. J."},{"key":"ref_22","unstructured":"Declerq, F., Georgadis, A., and Rogier, H. (2011, January 11\u201315). Wearable aperturecoupled shorted solar patch antenna for remote tracking and monitoring applications. Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP), Rome, Italy."},{"key":"ref_23","unstructured":"Balanis, C.A. (1982). Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design, Wiley."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"345","DOI":"10.1097\/01.HP.0000298816.66888.05","article-title":"Statistical multipath exposure of a human in a realistic electromagnetic environment","volume":"94","author":"Vermeeren","year":"2008","journal-title":"Heal. Phys."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"549","DOI":"10.1002\/bem.21799","article-title":"Stochastic Method for the Determination of the Organ-specific Averages SAR in Realistic Environments at 950 MHz","volume":"34","author":"Thielens","year":"2013","journal-title":"Bioelectromagnetics"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"823","DOI":"10.1109\/TVT.2002.800639","article-title":"Angular power distribution and mean effective Gain of mobile antenna in different propagation environments","volume":"51","author":"Kalliola","year":"2002","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"507","DOI":"10.1109\/49.995509","article-title":"Propagation Characteristics for Wideband Outdoor at 5.3 GHz","volume":"20","author":"Zhao","year":"2002","journal-title":"IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3434","DOI":"10.1109\/TWC.2006.256967","article-title":"The COST 259 Directional Channel Model-Part II: Macrocells","volume":"5","author":"Asplund","year":"2006","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Wirel. Commun."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Christ, A., Kainz, W., Hahn, E.G., Honegger, K., Zefferer, M., Neufeld, E., Rascher, W., Janka, R., Bautz, W., and Chen, J. (2010). The Virtual Family\u2013development of surface-based anatomical models of two adults and two children for dosimetric simulations. Phys. Med. Boil., 55.","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/55\/2\/N01"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2231","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/41\/11\/001","article-title":"The dielectric properties of biological tissues: I. Literature survey","volume":"41","author":"Gabriel","year":"1996","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Boil."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"214","DOI":"10.1049\/iet-map:20080041","article-title":"Mean effective Gain of Antennas in a Wireless Channel","volume":"3","author":"Glazunov","year":"2009","journal-title":"IET Microwaves Antennas Propag."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lecoutere, J., Thielens, A., Agneessens, S., Rogier, H., Joseph, W., and Puers, R. (2015). Wireless Fidelity Electromagnetic Field Exposure Monitoring With Wearable Body Sensor Networks. IEEE Trans. Biomed. Circuits Syst.","DOI":"10.1109\/TBCAS.2015.2487264"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3115","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/55\/11\/009","article-title":"Assessment of induced SAR in children exposed to electromagnetic plane waves between 10 MHz and 5.6 GHz","volume":"55","author":"Bakker","year":"2010","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol."},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"European Committee for Eletrotechnical Standardisation (2009). EN 50492. Basic Standard for the in-situ Measurement of Electromagnetic Field Strength Related to Human Exposure in the Vicinity of Base Stations, BSI."},{"key":"ref_35","unstructured":"Saunders, S.R. (1999). Antennas and Propagation for Wireless Communication Systems, John Wiley & Sons, Inc."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"122","DOI":"10.1002\/bem.21749","article-title":"Validation of experimental whole-body SAR assessment method in a complex indoor environment","volume":"34","author":"Bamba","year":"2012","journal-title":"Bioelectromagnetics"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Joseph, W., Aerts, S., Vandenbossche, M., Thielens, A., and Martens, L. (2015). Drone Based Measurement System for Radio Frequency Exposure Assessment. Bioelectromagentics, submitted.","DOI":"10.1002\/bem.21964"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"658","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envres.2010.06.009","article-title":"Comparison of personal radio frequency electromagnetic field exposure in different urban areas across Europe","volume":"110","author":"Joseph","year":"2010","journal-title":"Environ. Res."},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"Council (2012). Exposure Science in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy, The National Academies Press."},{"key":"ref_40","unstructured":"Dierck, A., De Keulenaer, T., Declercq, F., and Rogier, H. (2010, January 5\u20138). A wearable active GPS antenna for application in smart textiles. Proceedings of the 32nd ESA Antenna workshop on Antennas for Space Applications, Noordwijk, The Netherlands."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"838","DOI":"10.1109\/LAWP.2012.2207941","article-title":"Stability and efficiency of screen-printed wearable and washable antennas","volume":"11","author":"Scarpello","year":"2012","journal-title":"IEEE Antennas Wirel. Propag. Lett."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mohler, E., Frei, P., Fr\u00f6lich, J., Braun-Fahrl\u00e4nder, C., and R\u00f6\u00f6sli, M. (2012). Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields and Sleep Quality: A Prospective Cohort Study. PLoS ONE, 7.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0037455"},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"510","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envres.2011.02.015","article-title":"Variability of radiofrequency exposure across days of the week: A population-based study","volume":"111","author":"Viel","year":"2011","journal-title":"Environ. Res."}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/16\/2\/180\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T19:18:37Z","timestamp":1760210317000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/16\/2\/180"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2016,2,1]]},"references-count":43,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,2]]}},"alternative-id":["s16020180"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s16020180","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2016,2,1]]}}}