Jun 28, 2021
Apple lists products that pose risk to pacemakers
Many consumer-electronic devices contain components, such as magnets, which can interfere with medical devices. "Under certain conditions, magnets and electromagnetic fields might interfere with medical devices," Apple wrote. While researchers acknowledged the small scale of the study, lead investigator Dr Michael Wu wrote in a press release that they were surprised by the strength of the magnets in the iPhone 12,."In general, a magnet can change a pacemaker's timing or deactivate a defibrillator's life-saving functions, and this research indicates the urgency for everyone to be aware that electronic devices with magnets can interfere with cardiac implantable electronic devices." Ms Moe added that magnets of the strength found in the iPhone 12 could only cause the pacemaker to switch into "a kind of safety mode where the pacing is constant", but it would revert back once the device was removed. Jo Whitmore, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, echoed the sentiment that patients should not worry if they kept devices at a safe distance, She said: "It's perfectly OK to use a smartphone when you have a pacemaker, and they're designed to return to normal settings once the magnet is moved away."
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