Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Wireless Phones and Health pp 283–295Cite as

Medical Equipment Interference: Risk and Minimization

  • Chapter

Abstract

To help estimate the risk of medical equipment interference, the hospital electromagnetic environment and the immunity of critical-care medical equipment were characterized. Fields were found to be very low (e.g., 0.1 V/m), except near radiofrequency (RF) sources. Most medical equipment (e.g., 75%) exhibited serious malfunctions beside 5 W transmitters. Malfunctions decreased as other lower power sources or greater separations were employed. Since transmitters are rarely operated near medical equipment, this explains the probable low current risk of such malfunctions. However, minimizing this risk will require cooperative efforts, both short-term (education; management of sources and equipment; ad hoc testing of existing equipment) and long-term (equipment design; standards), all fostered by multi-disciplinary research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • American National Standards Institute. (1997). Recommended practice for an on-site, ad hoc test method for estimating radiated electromagnetic immunit of medical devices to specific RF transmitters (Standard C63.18). Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation. (1997). Guidance on electromagnetic compatibility of medical devices for clinical/biomedical engineers—Part 1: Radiated radiofrequency electromagnetic energy in health care facilities (Tech. Information Rep. No. 18-1997). Arlington, VA: Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Health & Welfare Canada. (1987). Proceedings of the workshop on electromagnetic interference and electromagnetic compatibility in health care facilities. Edmonton, Canada: Health Canada, Electronics Test Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joyner, K. H. (1998). State of the science in wireless instrument medical equipment interference. In G. L. Carlo(Ed.), Wireless phones and health: Scientificprogress (pp.269–281). Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kisilevich, D., & Tan, K. S.(1995). Effects of EMI on medical devices-Inside the hospital. In K. S. Tan, B. Segal, D. Townsend, & J. Stedman (Eds.), Proceedings of a round-table discussion on electromagnetic compatibility in health care (pp. 25–27). Spruce Grove, Canada: Care Technology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knickerbocker, G. G., & Barbell, A. S. (1995). Medical device malfunction caused by electromagnetic interference: The ECRI perspective. In B. Segal (Ed.), Proceedings of a workship on electromagnetics health care and health (pp. 24–28). Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Also in: Proceedings of 1995 IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society Annual Meeting and the 21 st Canadian Medical & Biological Society Conference [CD-ROM web edition], (pp. 1775–1779).Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kole, B. (1995). Preliminary broadband survey of electric fields in hospitals. In K. S. Tan, B. Segal, D. Townsend, & J. Stedman (Eds.), Proceedings of a round-table discussion on electromagnetic compatibility in health care (pp. 39–41). Spruce Grove, Canada: Care Technology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu-Hinz, C., Segal, B., Skulic, B., & Pavlasek, T. (1995). Electromagnetic fields near portable radiofrequency sources: Estimates using image theory and measurements. Proceedings of the 1995 IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society Annual Meeting and the 21 st Canadian Medical & Biological Society Conference (pp. 1589–1590). Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paperman, W. D., David, Y., & McKee, K. A. (1994). Electromagnetic interference: Causes and concerns in the health care environment (Healthcare Facilities No. 055110). Chicago, IL: American Society for Hospital Engineering, American Hospital Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rice, M. L., & Smith, J. M. (1993). Study of electromagnetic interference between portable cellular phones and medical equipment. Proceedings of the Canadian medical & biological engineering conference, 17, 330–331.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruggera, P., & O’Bryan E. R. (1991). Studies of apnea monitor radio frequency electromagnetic interference. Proceedings of 1991 IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society, 1641–1643.

    Google Scholar 

  • Segal, B. (1995). Sources and victims: The potential magnitude of the electromagnetic interference problem. In S. Sykes (Ed.), Proceedings of electromagnetic compatibility for medical devices: Issues and solution (pp.24–39). Arlington, VA: Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Segal, B., Retfalvi, S., & Pavlasek, T. (1995). “Silent” ma lfunction of a critical-care device causedbyEMI. Biomedical Instrumentation echnology, 29, 350–354.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Segal, B., Retfalvi, S., Townsend, D., & Pavlasek, T. (1996). Recommendation for electromagnetic compatibility in health care. Proceedings of the ProeCanadian Medical and Biological Engineering Conference, 22, 22–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Segal, B., Skulic, B., Liu-Hinz, C., Retfalvi, S., Orange, M., & Pavlasek, T. J. F. (1995). Preliminary study of critical-care medical-device susceptibility to portable radiofrequency sources [abstract]. Proceedings of 30th Annual Meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, 83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silberberg, J. (1993). Performance degradation of electronic medical devices due to electromagnetic interference. Compliance Engineering, 10, 25–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Silberberg, J. (1995). What can/should we learn from reports of medical devices EMI. In B. Segal (Ed.), Proceedings of a workshop on electromagnetics health care and health (pp. 10–19). Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Also in: Proceedings of 1995 IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society Annual Meeting and the 21 st Canadian Medical & Biological Society Conference [CD-ROM web edition], (pp. 1763–1772). Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan, K. S., & Hindberg, I. (1995). Investigation of EMI in Canadian hospitals. In B. Segal (Ed.), Proceedings of a workshop on electromagnetics health care and health (pp. 20–28). Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Also in: Proceedings of 1995 IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society Annual Meeting and the 21 st Canadian Medical & Biological Society Conference [CD-ROM web edition], (p. 1773). Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan, K. S., Segal, B., Townsend, D., & Stedman, J. (1995). Executive summary. In Proceedings of around-table on electromagnetic compatibility in health care (p.5). Spruce Grove, Canada: Care Technology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, D. (1995). The challenges of implementing engineering solutions into national laws: Looking ahead at electromagnetic compatibility standards for medical devices. In B. Segal (Ed.), Proceedings of a workshop on electromagnetics health care and health (pp. 110–111). Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Also in: Proceedings of 1995 IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society Annual Meeting and the 21 st Canadian Medical & Biological Society Conference [CD-ROM web edition], (p. 1757). Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vlach, P., Liu-Hinz, C., Segal, B., Skulic, B., & Pavlasek, T. (1995). The electromagnetic environment due to portable sources in a typical hospital room. Proceedings of the 1995 IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society Annual Meeting and the 21 st Canadian Medical & Biological Society Conference (pp. 683–684). Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vlach, P., Segal, B., & Pavlasek, T. (1995). The measured and predicted electromagnetic environment at urban hospitals. Proceedings of the 1995 International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Atlanta, GA (pp. 4–7). Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Witters, D., & Ruggera, P. (1994). Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) of powered wheelchairs and scooters. Proceedings of 1994 IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (pp. 894–895). Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Bernard Segal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Wireless Technology Research, L.L.C., Italy

    George L. Carlo

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Segal, B. (2002). Medical Equipment Interference: Risk and Minimization. In: Carlo, G.L., Supley, M., Hersemann, S.E., Thibodeau, P. (eds) Wireless Phones and Health. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-46899-9_21

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-46899-9_21

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-8347-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-306-46899-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation