iPods and Pacemakers Don't Mix

fermion writes "The Register reports a study that indicates that iPods and pacemakers do not get along. While there do not appear to be any long term effects, iPods disrupt the operation of the pacemaker. It is noted that such effects have not previously been observed as iPods do seem to be popular with the pacemaker-wearing population."

No way in heck

[Anonymous Coward]

This study is prima facie complete BS. iPods emit less RF than pretty much anything else in the environment around you. They have to meet FCC Part 15 and other international standards, just like any other device.

If someone's pacemaker is acting up, it had better not be an iPod causing it, or that person had better move into a Faraday cage.

File this under "OMG cell phones kill bees!!!11!"

Pure Sensationlism

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm an engineer who works for a pacemaker company, and from what I've understood on this hype, the iPod is just disrupting communication with the cardiologist's programming station. "The equipment to misread the heart's pacing" is misunderstood as the pacemaker missing the heart's pace, but I believe it much more likely to be the programming station missing the real time EKG stream to the programming station. With the exception of that lone device, I bet the rest of the pacemakers paced and performed as properly as they could with a noisy communication channel. The communication protocols for the devices I've worked on are often wrapped with many parity checks and CRCs. And yes, modern pacemakers are even run through lengthy tests of randomly hitting them with a multitude of communication errors to make sure these situations are covered.

So in short, this is just a poorly written and misleading article that is going to feed off the public's misunderstanding of technology.

Re:iPods and pacemakers don't mix?!

[Babbster]

Despite the fact that you've been modded into oblivion, I'll respond because it's a fairly common belief that people with heart problems requiring a pacemaker are always restricted in terms of their cardiovascular activity. In fact, pacemakers are often prescribed to treat symptoms such as exercise intolerance, and the patients who have them can often exercise just as vigorously as anyone else (barring other physical problems). A quick googling turned up this American Heart Association paper [ahajournals.org] which details many of the common misconceptions associated with pacemaker use.

No problems with my pacemaker

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm 31 and I've got a pacemaker (implanted when I was 17) and I have not experienced any problems when using my 5th generation iPod. I don't keep the iPod on top of my pacemaker, either, but I can't recall ever having a problem when using the iPod. I use lots of wireless devices as well (blackberry pearl, MS wireless keyboard, bluetooth headset, etc) and don't experience any problems. Again, as the manufacturers of the devices and the pacemakers recommend, I usually keep the devices a few inches from the pacer (and most often use the phone on the ear opposite the pacer implant location).
The study should include information about the pacer models and manufacture dates...perhaps these were very old units.

Re:Ipod only?

[stephanruby]

Here is a list of at least 30 common devices [guidant.com] that would probably interfere with a pacemaker. This is nothing new. All pacemaker patients are told about this when they first get one. The iPod angle was just a way to get the story in the news.

Re:That is not...

[stephanruby]

stated in the article, or any reference to this issue that I can find. Can you provide a cite to back that up? If it were true, the the title would be even more misleading, since it's not all iPods, but is all harddrives.

The article is misleading, yes, but it is not the magnet that's doing the interference. In 1995 cell phones [fda.gov] were also found to interfere with pacemakers at the same range. This is not news, there are a number of devices [guidant.com] that can interfere with pacemakers -- all patients with pacemakers already know this.

Re:touch sensor, maybe

[hazem]

My "second generation" nano produces a high-pitched noise whenever it's on- it's noticeable if you have it within 2 feet or so of your head. I'm pretty sure it is the inverter that generates the AC current, but if it's 120kHz, that shouldn't be possible, unless there's a resonant frequency in the audible range.

That's a known problem and you can get a warranty replacement. I bought one and as soon as I turned it on I notice the sound. Googled and found many people complained about it. I called the mac store and they said bring it back and they gave me a replacement with no hassles.

Re:This is a bit biased...

[neapolitan]

802.x frequencies generally don't cause any problem if they stay in the frequency range, but at extremely close proximity any RF source would give significant power to frequencies outside this range and could contribute to noise seen by the device...

In fact, Guidant released a defibrillator/pacer awhile back that programmed wirelessly, I believe in the 802.11 spectrum.

http://www.guidant.com/news/500/web_release/nr_000 570.shtml [guidant.com]

This opens up a whole realm of bad possibilities, to your ambitious neighbor kid reprogramming your device to accidental interference. Of course, the engineers prepared for this -- one must initiate programming with a wand / frequency outside 802.11, which only has a range of 2 inches. Thus, there can be no drive-by hacking of the device. This wireless device is not used much (in fact, I've never seen one outside the research setting) as the wireless convenience of programming was still regarded as a security / safety risk and did not really add too much utility...

Re:This is a bit biased...

[Fred Ferrigno]

The real concern is why pacemakers are made so they are susceptible to such interference.

The heart's electrical signals are very weak, so the pacemaker's sensing leads have to be incredibly sensitive in order to pick them up. Unfortunately, any ungrounded wire is an antenna, so that hyper sensitivity means that they pick up noise, even from sources that meet FCC regulations. Since the exposed lead has to be in physical contact with the heart at some point, there's no 100% effective way to eliminate the noise. It's a known problem with the very concept of a pacemaker.

Re:Ipod only?

[marklar1]

The patient brochure you were given is designed to educate new "owners" of the dangers. No, they don't go into great detail as to why things are warned, they just warn there. The majority of our patients can't/won't/wouldn't be able to follow complex explanations of behaviors. They would also be less likely to get through ANY of the manuals and information if it looked like the technical manuals for one of these devices.

The explosion of Cell phone devices has caused manufacturers to pay greater attention to EMI...and about 3-4 years ago the first of the big 3 manufacturers started advertising/marketing their engineered resistance to cell phones.

If memory serves me correctly, the The energy field falls off at a proportion to the square of the distance. Patients used to be advised to carry their cell phones in the breast pocket of a jacket opposite their implantation site (about 90+ percent left shoulder in the US). They were further cautioned if they felt dizzy that the POTENTIAL effect of a phone would be obviated holding at arms length.

Implantable pacemakers/defibs don't sense the type of EKG that you would see as gathered from surface leads. They try to make sense of the hearts intrinsic rhythm/activity from sensing at the tips of the leads. Different leads, different sensor technologies, and different algorithms for analysis all can play a part. Furthermore, the connectors on the heads of the devices are standardized to accomodate interchanging leads from other companies--and like all "standards" this one has evolved in generations...and has meant good things for patients BTW.

The first pacers just had a minimum rate...ie. wouldn't let the heart rate drop below 60. Subsequent generations added "rate smoothing"...ie if your heart was beating at rate above 60, the pacer would allow for the subsequent beat to be no longer than a fixed or programmable percentage than the prior beat, to regularlize heart rate during activity or strain. The latest devices use either vibration sensors, or accelerometers, optionally combined with minute ventillation (breathing rate sensors measuring changes in impedance in a separate/non-pacing signal conducted from the tip of the lead back to a sensor on the generator) to vary rate according to exertion levels.

Most patients see their doctor one to three times in the month post operatively, then follow up with an annual (single-lead pacer), biannual (dual-lead pacer), or quarterly (AICD / defibrillator). This is a good time for patients or family members to ask questions. At a great percentage of these followup appointments, a representative of the company is often there. The programming interface, features, and diagnostic/therapeutic algorithms vary consideratbly from company to company, device to device, and there are devices going back up to twenty years!!! Old flask-sized devices in patients with minimal usage just ticking away.....

The Pacemaker companies (3 majors in the US) have done a good job in educating customers, providing 24 hour hotline technical support by phone and on pager response via sales and clinical reps... the level of accountability, the level of service, and as part and parcel the level of education of the sales/clinical team has few peers in ANY industry.

Further, the pacemaker companies direct clients are the physicians and hospitals. They buy the device, and install it, and should be the primary line of information and service of the device. The companies have done an amazing job in educating and including patients where the hospitals and doctors don't really have widely-available, ,efficient mechanisms to do that in place.

Beyond what is produced by the manufacturers, there are many widely available books on pacing and defibrillation, as well as electophysiologic "EP" testing that start with the fundamentals--you can follow along with if you have a decent basic science background. A few of the standard intro texts are:

K Ellenbogen: Cardiac Pacing

R Fogros: Electrophysiologic Testing

Best of luck to you and your son.