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Engineering

The Impact of Electromagnetic Interference on Implantable Medical Device Safety

Quick fact

MRI machines are such a powerful source of electromagnetic interference that they can induce currents in pacemaker leads, potentially causing heating or inappropriate shocks; as a result, many implantable devices are now labeled 'MRI-conditional' to specify safe conditions for scanning.

Why this is interesting

You probably carry a smartphone in your pocket, but did you know that for a person with a pacemaker, that same phone could be a source of life-threatening interference? How can a common object disrupt a medical device designed to keep someone alive?