The effects of exposure to 915 MHz radiofrequency identification on cerebral glucose metabolism in rat: A [F-18] FDG micro-PET study

Purpose: We investigated the effect of whole-body exposure to 915-MHz radiofrequency identification (RFID) on rat cortical glucose metabolism by using ¹⁸F-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET). Materials and methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups: Cage-control, sham-exposed and RFID-exposed groups. Rats were exposed to the 915-MHz RFID for 8 h daily, 5 days per week, for 2 or 16 weeks. The whole-body average specific absorption rate (SAR) was 4 W/kg for the field of the 915 MHz RFID signal. FDG-PET images were obtained the day after RFID exposure, using micro-PET with a FDG tracer. With a Xeleris functional imaging workstation, absolute values in regions of interest (ROI) in the frontal, temporal and parietal cortexes and cerebellum were measured. Cortical ROI values were normalized to the cerebellar value and compared. Results: The data showed that the relative cerebral glucose metabolic rate was unchanged in the frontal, temporal and parietal cortexes of the 915 MHz RFID-exposed rats, compared with rats in cage-control and sham-exposed groups. Conclusion: Our results suggest that 915 MHz RFID radiation exposure did not cause a significant long lasting effect on glucose metabolism in the rat brain.