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Reliability of electromagnetic filters of cardiac pacemakers tested by cellular telephone ringing.

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Trigano A, Blandeau O, Dale C, Wong MF, Wiart J. · 2005

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Only older, unprotected pacemakers showed interference from cell phones, with modern filtered devices proving highly resistant even at maximum power.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

French researchers tested whether cell phone signals could interfere with cardiac pacemakers by placing ringing phones directly on patients' chests during routine clinic visits. Out of 330 tests on 158 patients, interference occurred in only 5 cases (1.5%), and only with older pacemaker models that lacked electromagnetic filters. This demonstrates that modern pacemakers with protective filters are highly resistant to cell phone interference, even during the peak power phase of incoming calls.

Why This Matters

This study provides reassuring evidence about pacemaker safety in our wireless world, but it also reveals an important vulnerability. The fact that interference occurred exclusively with unprotected pacemaker models highlights a critical point: not all medical devices are created equal when it comes to EMF protection. The researchers tested phones at their maximum power output (2 watts for GSM, 1 watt for PCS) placed directly over the pacemaker pocket, representing a worst-case scenario that exceeds typical daily exposure. What this means for you is that while modern pacemakers generally handle cell phone signals well, patients with older devices should remain cautious about keeping phones close to their chest. The 1.5% interference rate, while low, still represents real risk for those with vulnerable devices.

Exposure Information

A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 1.80 GHz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 1.80 GHzPower lines50/60 Hz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. The study examined exposure from: 900, 1800 MHz

Study Details

This study tested the protection offered by electromagnetic filters of cardiac pacemakers against cellular phone ringing.

We performed 330 consecutive tests in 158 patients at the time of routine examination in our pacemak...

Interference was noted in only 5 tests, due to interaction by the GSM system with 4 unprotected pace...

Interference by cellular phone ringing occurred only with unprotected pacemaker models. Standard programming of these unprotected models was associated with a low incidence of interference.

Cite This Study
Trigano A, Blandeau O, Dale C, Wong MF, Wiart J. (2005). Reliability of electromagnetic filters of cardiac pacemakers tested by cellular telephone ringing. Heart Rhythm. 2(8):837-841, 2005.
Show BibTeX
@article{a_2005_reliability_of_electromagnetic_filters_2633,
  author = {Trigano A and Blandeau O and Dale C and Wong MF and Wiart J.},
  title = {Reliability of electromagnetic filters of cardiac pacemakers tested by cellular telephone ringing.},
  year = {2005},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16051120/},
}
PubMed: 16051120

Cited By (37 papers)

Quick Questions About This Study

French researchers found that ringing cell phones placed directly on patients' chests caused pacemaker interference in only 1.5% of tests (5 out of 330). Interference occurred exclusively with older, unprotected pacemaker models lacking electromagnetic filters.
Only 4 unprotected pacemaker models without electromagnetic filters showed interference from 900 MHz GSM signals. Modern pacemakers with protective filters demonstrated high resistance to cell phone interference, even during peak power phases of incoming calls.
Direct contact testing on 158 pacemaker patients showed malfunction in only 1.5% of cases. The 2005 French study found that 12 identical unprotected models showed no interference, indicating even vulnerable devices rarely malfunction.
Yes, modern pacemakers with electromagnetic filters proved highly resistant to interference from ringing cell phones at 900 and 1800 MHz frequencies. The study found zero interference cases among protected pacemaker models during direct chest contact testing.
Unprotected pacemaker models experienced interference in a small percentage of cases when GSM phones rang directly against patients' chests. However, standard programming of these vulnerable devices was associated with low interference incidence overall.