Dielectric constant of neurons

[MarkoF]

Hello! First time poster. I hope this is not a wrong sub-forum for this kind of question.

Can anyone tell me where can I find values for dielectric constants of neurons and nerve fibers for frequencies in the range of 1e12 - 1e14 Hz (optical and RF part of the spectrum)?

I have found data only up to 1e11 Hz (Gabriel 1996 - The dielectric properties of biological tissues: III), and most of the other works cover frequencies up to GHz.

 

[Pythagorean]

I don't think biological tissues really have a "constant". They probably have a skin-depth function and a dispersion relation. After a little internet research:

Here's a journal article that outlines a general equation

http://pre.aps.org/abstract/PRE/v60/i4/p4677_1

here's a PDF referencing the above journal and breaking down the equation a little bit and giving some simple applications (cantorian fractals may be a way to model dendritic processes).

http://permittivity.org/tutorial%20pdf/bds-tut-09-raicu.pdf

I'm not sure this is really a simple question. If there's no experimental data, someone has to do the theoretical work based on what's been observed.

Here's a note on the state of terahertz exposure for biological tissues in general:

http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/761/

 

[MarkoF]

You are right, it would rather be a function, my mistake.

Thank you for the links, they look very promissing! It would seem that I have yet to learn about proper net searching. :-)