Is There a Risk for Interaction Between Mobile Phones and Single Lead VDD Pacemakers?

Abstract

Mobile phones may cause pacemaker interference. Patients with a single lead VDD pacemaker might be at special risk, since the atrial sensitivity is often programmed to low (high sensitivity) threshold values and the majority of patients are pacemaker dependent due to the underlying high degree AV block. We evaluated 31 patients with three types of single lead VDD pacemakers: 12 Unity, 292-07 (Intermedics, Inc.); 10 Thera VDD, 8948 or 8968i (Medtronic, Inc.); and 9 Saphir 600 (Vitatron, Inc.) for interference from a cellular mobile phone with a power of 2 W (D-net). For this purpose, atrial and ventricular sensitivity settings were programmed to their most sensitive values (A: 0.1-0.25 mV; V: 1.0 mV) and ventricular sensing was programmed to unipolar. With the ECG continuously monitored, the phone's extendable antenna was brought in direct contact with the patient's skin at the right sternal border, with the tip of the antenna in skin contact just below the clavicle, within 5 cm of the pacemaker connector. Then multiple phases of phone calls were performed, and the effects on the pacemakers recorded. In our group of patients with three different types of single lead VDD pacemakers, no interference could be detected using a 2-W mobile phone in the digital D-net. The programmed values remained unchanged after the interference test. Therefore, the risk of interference seems to be low for the VDD pacemakers tested, although our study design does not allow to entirely exclude the possibility of interference from a mobile phone.

The effects of mobile phones on pacemaker function

“…New generation of pacemakers are reported to be more protected against electromagnetic field due to the fact that they are equipped with more developed perception filters [9,[24][25][26][27]. In the new pacemaker models by the same manufacturer, there are specific perception filters and smaller battery sizes which all reduce the risk of being adversely affected by the magnetic field to a significant degree [16,28,29]. Hayes et al [21] emphasized the fact that the risk of being affected was related to the model of the pacemaker rather than its brand.…”

“…The mode of the pacemaker, its lead polarity and sensitivity, the output power and the antenna length of the mobile phone and the distance between the mobile phone and the pacemaker have all been reported to be influential on the adverse effects of the mobile phones on pacemakers [9][10][11]. There are in vitro [10,[12][13][14] and clinical studies [9,[15][16][17][18] reporting that Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) mobile phones operating with digital technology might have adverse effects on pacemaker functions. Yet, the question of whether the use of mobile phones is safe for patients with pacemakers remains unanswered.…”

On the mechanisms of interference between mobile phones and pacemakers: parasitic demodulation of GSM signal by the sensing amplifier

“…In particular, concerns have been raised about the interference produced by mobile devices such as analogue/digital phones and hand-held radios. PMs are designed to work with bandlimited signals up to few hundred hertz; nevertheless, several authors have shown adverse effects from devices working at 900 MHz (Barbaro et al 1995, Hayes 1996, Carillo et al 1995, Irnich et al 1996, Barbaro et al 1996, Nowak et al 1996, Sparks et al 1996, Wilke et al 1996. Scarce attention has been paid to the mechanisms behind these interferences.…”

“…The topic of electromagnetic interference (EMI) between mobile phones and pacemakers (PMs) has raised much interest among physicists since 1994, when several sets of research data were reported on the adverse effects of electromagnetic fields radiated from mobile phones on implantable PMs (Barbaro et al 1995, 1996, Hayes 1996, Carillo et al 1995, Irnich et al 1996, Nowak et al 1996, Sparks et al 1996.…”

Evaluation of Electromagnetic Interference of GSM Mobile Phones with Pacemakers Featuring Remote Monitoring Functions

“…Mobile communication systems have gained great diffusion in the last decades, but their potential electromagnetic interference (EMI) with medical devices, especially electrical implantable devices, has raised no little concern. So far, several studies have investigated both in vivo and in vitro the potential adverse effects of mobile terminals on PM and implantable cardioverters 4–10 . New filtering techniques and components were included to minimize the effects observed in early PMs 11–13 …”