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Radiofrequency identification devices (RFIDs) are used increasingly in everyday life (e.g., antitheft tags in clothing) as well as in healthcare (e.g., wander alerts for disoriented patients). In a nonclinical trial, researchers in the Netherlands evaluated the potential for adverse events caused by electromagnetic interference (EMI) emitted by RFIDs.
In a controlled setting, researchers tested the effects of two types of RFID systems on 41 medical devices used in critical care (e.g., mechanical ventilators, syringe pumps, and external pacemakers). An EMI incident was defined as any unintended change in function of a medical device, and a hazardous incident was defined as an EMI incident that could have a direct physical effect on a patient …