Stan Beer
Friday, 11 May 2007 09:17
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A new medical study has found that iPods can cause cardiac pacemakers to malfunction and even stop working. According to a Reuters report, a study at Thoracic and Cardiovascular Institute at Michigan State University, detected electrical interference with pacemakers in half of 100 patients tested.
It has long been known that mobile phones can
cause interference with pacemakers, which is why hospitals ask visitors
to switch them off. According to The Therapeutic Goods Administration,
the Australian Government’s organisation responsible for ensuring the
safety of therapeutic goods, interference may be caused by the
transmitted radio signal from a phone, when held about 15cm (6 inches)
from a user.
However, until now there has been no known study of the effects of portable music players on therapeutic equipment.
The iPod study, conducted by Assistant Professor Dr Krit Jongnarangsin
and Jay Thaker, the 17 year old son of medical scientists, found that
when iPods were held just 2 inches from the chest of the mainly elderly
test patients, electrical interference was detected half of the time.
Interference was also occasionally detected when iPods were 18 inches
from the chest.
Although the study only used Apple iPods, the implications for the use
of other brands of portable music players by patients with implanted
pacemakers would appear to be obvious.
The study also raises questions
as to whether regulations need to be enacted concerning the use of
iPods and other portable music players in hospitals and other areas
where patients with implanted pacemakers are likely to
congregate.