PM affected by EMF

I`d had my combined Boston  PM/DIFIB for 6 years and during that time I swear it has been affected by electrical interference but when I`ve suggested it the idea has been dismisted. On one occasion the logging on the PM showing iregular pacing and the time of a text on my mobile were the same ! If fact I cannot prove it but I am sure on one occasion it may have caused the difib the shock me !

Has anybody experienced this? Thanks mg

 

2 Comments

Doesn't seem impossible

by crustyg - 2019-12-04 13:04:21

The amplifiers on the PM's sensor units are working with very small signals, and although they have been designed to reject other electrical signals to a massive extent, there's always a limit to what can be achieved.

I've had some emails exchanged (indirectly) with BostonSci folk in the UK, and they've reached for the 'interference' argument when I've pointed out that *sometimes* my PM's Minute Ventilation feature doesn't deliver (there are a *lot* of difficulties in making this work reliably in real patients), so it doesn't seem impossible to me.

At the beginning of a text message transmission a base station may broadcast a message asking if our cellphone is in their cell.  Our mobile phones then go to full power to say 'here I am', followed by the base station sending the text.  Full power on the cellphone is a *lot* more RF than they commonly put out, so it could well be that this burst of power by your cellphone interfered with your PM for a few seconds during this.  A lot depends on your leads, lead configuration, possibly pacing approach, where you keep your 'phone etc.  In general, modern cellphones don't cause issues, but we're discussing the possibility that on occasion they might.

PM and RF

by mg - 2019-12-05 07:15:05

Thanks for the comments Crusty. Funny you should mention lead placement as I`ve had the thought that my problems started after a broken LV lead was replaced . The old lead was left in as it was too risky to remove. My thinking was that the old lead may  act as an antena/receiver. This in turn  could produce an inductive effect on the`good` lead as they are side by side. We`ll never know unless someone is willing to run proper tests on me !

Interestingly I spoke to a friend who spoke to his friend  who has something to do with EMF research and his off the cuff comment was not suprised and  that EMF could possibly be the next big health problem!

The other day I was given a lift in one of the latest full electric cars and I must admit was a bit anxious but I survived.

Has any body made a Faraday `T` shirt ?

Thanks for the interest.   mg

 

 

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