Environmental Influence on Implantable Cardiac Pacemakers
Richard A. Carleton, Robert J. Koslov, John S. Graettinger · 1964
This 1964 study was the first to document electromagnetic interference with implantable pacemakers, predicting today's device vulnerability concerns.
Plain English Summary
This 1964 research by Dr. Carleton examined how environmental electromagnetic fields interfere with implantable cardiac pacemakers. The study investigated interference from automobile electrical systems and medical diathermy equipment. This was pioneering work documenting electromagnetic interference with life-sustaining medical devices.
Why This Matters
This study represents a watershed moment in EMF health science. Published in 1964, just two years after the first implantable pacemaker was developed, Dr. Carleton's research documented something the medical establishment hadn't anticipated: electromagnetic fields from everyday sources could interfere with life-saving medical devices. The reality is that pacemakers, which regulate heartbeats for millions of people today, remain vulnerable to EMF interference six decades later. What this means for you is that if you or a loved one has a pacemaker, the electromagnetic environment matters in ways that go beyond theoretical health effects. Modern sources like cell phones, security systems, and wireless devices can still cause pacemaker malfunctions, making this early research remarkably prescient about our electromagnetic future.
Finding
The effects of cardiac defibrillators were tested by immersing the pacemaker leads in a bath of normal sodium chloride solution. The defibrillator paddles were positioned 25 cm apart in the sodium chloride solution; the pacemaker lead terminals, themselves 28 cm apart, were placed 6 cm from one paddle and 12 cm from the other. A direct-current defibrillator stopped the locally made pacemaker transiently but had no effect on the purchased type. An external alternating-current defibrillator on the "adult" setting stopped each pacemaker transiently. With the defibrillator on the "adult-high" setting, the locally made pacemaker again stopped transiently; the purchased brand stopped permanently.
In their words
“The effects of cardiac defibrillators were tested by immersing the pacemaker leads in a bath of normal sodium chloride solution. The defibrillator paddles were positioned 25 cm apart in the sodium chloride solution; the pacemaker lead terminals, themselves 28 cm apart, were placed 6 cm from one paddle and 12 cm from the other. A direct-current defibrillator stopped the locally made pacemaker transiently but had no effect on the purchased type. An external alternating-current defibrillator on the "adult" setting stopped each pacemaker transiently. With the defibrillator on the "adult-high" setting, the locally made pacemaker again stopped transiently; the purchased brand stopped permanently.”
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
To report preliminary observations of the behavior of two brands of pacemakers in several environments which may be encountered by patients.
Three pacemakers were used. Two were designed and made by one of us (R. W. S.) and are of the type u...
The spark plugs on a gasoline-powered lawn mower and the gasoline-powered alternator were tested. Th...
The inherent electrical characteristics of oscillating circuits make them vulnerable to interference by electromagnetic activity in the environment. Since metals of high magnetic permeability, such as alloys with 80% nickel, have been used in other applications to provide electromagnetic shielding, a pacemaker was tested after its complete encasement in such an alloy. No protection from the effects of diathermy was observed, but the malfunction induced by automobile electrical parts was attenuated. With such shielding, the pacemaker output was stable at distances greater than 2 cm from distributors or spark plugs. The role played by the lead wires could best be seen near diathermy. The pacemakers both with and without lead wires were equally affected by diathermy; however, moving a loop of lead wires through the diathermy radio-frequency field induced a 13.5- or 27-megacycle distortion of as much as 10 volts, upon which the basic pacemaker impulse was superimposed.
Show BibTeX
@article{environmental_influence_on_implantable_cardiac_pacemakers_g6746,
author = {Richard A. Carleton and Robert J. Koslov and John S. Graettinger},
title = {Environmental Influence on Implantable Cardiac Pacemakers},
year = {1964},
}