IPods caused various types of interference in pacemakers in 50 percent of the patients tested 2007-05-12
On Thursday, a 17-year-old Michigan high school student named Jay Thaker presented a paper on iPod and pacemaker interference to the 2007 annual meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society in Denver, Colorado. His study concluded that iPods caused various types of interference in pacemakers in 50 percent of the patients tested.
The population tested in Thaker's study had a mean age of 76.1 (plus or minus 8.6 years), which is admittedly not the prime demographic for iPods and other MP3 players. However, the results of the study give some indication of the kinds of issues that will arise as those currently in their 40s and 50s start to develop their own personal relationships with cardiologists.
Testing for Interference
Thaker, the son of an electrophysiologist and a rheumatologist, worked with several doctors from Michigan State University and the University of Michigan to test his theory of interference. Four different iPods -- a third-generation MP3 player, a video iPod, a photo iPod, and a Nano -- were held 2 inches above the chests of 83 patients with pacemakers. Each iPod was held there for five to ten seconds while a technician monitored electrocardiogram and pacemaker telemetry equipment.
The study revealed that three different types of interference can occur between an iPod and a pacemaker. Two types, oversensing (spurious sensing of atrial/ventricular events) and telemetry interference, were the most persistent and were measured in more than 50 percent of the patients. The third, most ser
