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FDA Data Confirm Smartphone Interference With Cardiac Devices
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Wallace Gasiewicz:
This is an article about smart phones possibly interfering in cardiac pacers. It says 10 G, which I take as Gauss, is enough to do something. That is pretty small since a frig magnet is several times stronger.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/957310?src=WNL_trdalrt_210830_MSCPEDIT&uac=356862FZ&impID=3603385&faf=1
TimFox:
From my days in MRI, I learned that a pacemaker was a contraindication for MR scanning, since they were designed to change mode (for medical diagnostic purposes) when a permanent magnet of a few gauss was placed on the patient’s chest.  There were also horror stories about pacemakers in test “phantoms” (non biological) being tested in actual MR scanners and the resulting malfunctions (like absurdly high pulse rates).
SiliconWizard:
Of course, approaching any magnet strong enough would do the exact same thing. Like magnets on your fridge, for instance, yes.

The alert here is that most people probably don't even know that smartphones embed magnets that can be strong enough for this, or that they embed magnets at all.
m98:
Seriously, what good reason is there for pacemakers to still use a reed-switch as an input device? With all the things you have to stay away from because they would either possibly trigger that reed-switch or otherwise disturb the device, how are they even passing regular EMI-tests?
TimFox:
Apparently, sometime around  2011 (after my work in MRI was over), pacemakers certified safe in MR scanners became available.  There is, of course, the same problem with image artifacts as with other metal implants.  Except for maglev trains, I’m not aware of other strong DC magnetic fields encountered by pacemaker patients.
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