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Pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) may be susceptible to electromagnetic interference from other devices (e.g., cellular telephones, electronic surveillance systems). Airport metal-detector gates (AMDGs) use alternating current to produce a primary magnetic flux within one or more coils. To determine whether AMDGs might interfere with pacemaker and ICD function, researchers in Germany set up a standard AMDG in their office to test its effect on 348 consecutive patients (200 with pacemakers, 148 with ICDs) who were undergoing routine device checks.
The researchers assessed pacemaker and ICD function by recording ECGs and interrogating devices before, during, and after exposure to the AMDG. While pacemakers and ICDs …