Apple has released a list of its products that it advises should be kept a “safe distance” away from sensitive medical devices such as pacemakers and implanted defibrillators. These products are iPhone 12 models, Apple Watch and MacBook Pro.
A number of consumer-electronic devices contain components, such as magnets, which are known to interfere with medical devices. A number of other manufacturers, for example Samsung and Huawei, have issued similar guidance for some of their products.
Heart health is a promoted feature of some Apple products; certain Apple Watches can make electrocardiogram tests and display the results to the user, as well as recording the data for later medical examination. A number of studies have shown that Apple watches can detect cardiovascular problems such as atrial fibrillation with a fairly high degree of sensitivity. However, the current notice warns of the risks posed by components in some products.
“Under certain conditions, magnets and electromagnetic fields might interfere with medical devices,” Apple wrote, noting “implanted pacemakers and defibrillators might contain sensors that respond to magnets and radios when in close contact”.
Implanted defibrillators send electrical pulses to regulate abnormal heart rhythms. Apple said the listed products should be kept more than 15cm away from medical devices, double that if they are wirelessly charging.
The support page that listed the devices, had said earlier this month that iPhone 12 models were “not expected to pose a greater risk of magnetic interference to medical devices” than other iPhones.
However, the website MacRumours, which first noted the list, pointed to research suggesting that the iPhone 12 could interfere with implanted devices.
A study published June 2 in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that “Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro Max MagSafe technology can cause magnet interference”, and so had the potential “to inhibit life-saving therapy”.
The researchers acknowledged the study’s small scale as a limitation, though in a press release lead investigator Dr Michael Wu wrote 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.”
However Marie Moe, a computer security consultant for Mnemonic, told the BBC she was not worried.
“These Apple gadgets are generally not emitting large magnetic fields, unlike heavy machinery, big concert speakers or welding equipment that anyone with a pacemaker should be more concerned about getting in close proximity to,” she said. She is a pacemaker user herself and studies their use.
Ms Moe added that magnets as strong as those in the iPhone 12 could only put the pacemaker into “a kind of safety mode where the pacing is constant”, which would revert back once the device was removed.
Jo Whitmore, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, agreed that devices kept at a safe distance were not cause for concern. “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,” she said.
She added that patients should check the device instructions or talk to the manufacturer if they are concerned, and they could also contact their doctor or pacing clinic.
Source: BBC News
