The work was led by researchers from Ghent University working on the GOLIAT project

The production cost, excluding calibration and engineering time, was less than € 200

5G-induced electric field levels measured with the new sensor remained well below international safety limits

Image of the triaxal 5G RF-EMF sensor

Interior of the triaxal 5G RF-EMF sensor

Researchers from Ghent University working for the GOLIAT project have designed, calibrated and validated an affordable sensor to measure radio frequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure induced by 5G networks. This new tool will help improve risk communication and support health and environmental research.

The new triaxial sensor, tested in real-world settings, can measure levels of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) in key frequency bands used for 5G (n78 3300 MHz to 3800 MHz and n77 3300 MHz to 4200 MHz). Unlike traditional single-axis sensors, a triaxial sensor measures along three axes which reduces the measurement uncertainty.

Field tests were conducted indoors in the city of Ghent (Belgium) and outdoors both in Delft (The Netherlands) and Ghent. The results showed that 5G-induced electric field levels remained well below international safety limits, reaching a maximum of only 4.8% of the recommended threshold even near a base station. The sensor’s performance was validated against commercial equipment, showing reliable accuracy and the sensor produced results which were within the measurement uncertainty range of the commercial equipment. The combined uncertainty error of the sensor is 3.12 dB.

“The production cost of our sensor, excluding calibration and engineering time, was less than € 200, which makes is suitable to be deployed in large monitoring networks”, says Jeroen Van der Straeten, researcher at the University of Ghent and first author of the study.

The technical details of the sensor and its development process have been gathered on a paper published in IEEE Sensors Journal.

Reference

Van der Straeten, H. V. Bladel, K. Deprez, W. Joseph and G. Vermeeren, “Design and validation of a low-cost triaxial 5G RF-EMF exposure sensor,” in IEEE Sensors Journal, doi: 10.1109/JSEN.2025.3549631.