NORMAN, Okla.-The University of Oklahoma’s EMC Center reported recent findings indicate that interaction may occur between a small number of wireless phones and some implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs).
ICDs are electronic devices inserted within a patient’s body to monitor and correct abnormally fast heart rhythms. EMC Center Director Dr. Hank Grant reported that, while the study is limited in scope, no interaction was found between ICDs and phones that operate in the 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz bands. The interaction that did occur was mostly between one company’s ICDs and one phone technology, and no permanent reprogramming of any ICDs occurred.
“The testing involved all of the analog and digital wireless phone technologies operating in the U.S. and Europe and ICDs from four of the industry’s major manufacturers,” said Grant.
“Most, but not all, ICD/phone combinations were tested under the most extreme situations of maximum device sensitivity and phone power output. The phones were tested in close proximity to the ICD to represent the phone being carried in a chest pocket or being held adjacent to the chest.”
