Cellular phone interference with external cardiopulmonary monitoring devices.
Tri JL, Hayes DL, Smith TT, Severson RP · 2001
View Original AbstractCell phones caused clinically significant interference with hospital heart monitors in 7.4% of tests, showing EMF can disrupt life-saving medical equipment.
Plain English Summary
Researchers tested whether cell phones interfere with hospital heart and lung monitoring equipment by placing 5 phones (4 digital, 1 analog) near 17 different medical devices. They found that phones caused some type of interference in 41% of the devices tested, but only 7.4% of cases involved clinically significant problems that could affect patient care. This suggests that while electromagnetic interference from cell phones can occur in hospitals, serious disruptions to critical monitoring equipment are relatively rare.
Why This Matters
This study provides important real-world evidence that electromagnetic fields from cell phones can interfere with sensitive medical equipment, even if most interference doesn't rise to clinically dangerous levels. The 7.4% rate of clinically important interference may sound low, but in a hospital setting where lives depend on accurate monitoring, even this level of risk has prompted many medical facilities to restrict cell phone use near critical care areas. What makes this research particularly relevant is that it was conducted in 2001 when cell phone usage was far lower than today. With smartphones now ubiquitous in hospitals and EMF exposure levels dramatically higher, the potential for interference has only grown. The science demonstrates that electromagnetic fields don't just affect biological systems - they can also disrupt the electronic devices we depend on for healthcare, creating indirect health risks that deserve serious consideration.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
To determine the potential effect (electromagnetic interference) of cellular telephones on external cardiopulmonary monitoring devices.
For this study, we tested 17 different medical devices with 5 portable telephones (4 digital, 1 anal...
Any type of interference occurred in 7 (41%) of the 17 devices tested during 54.7% of the 526 tests....
Cellular telephones may interfere with the operation of external cardiopulmonary monitoring devices. However, most of the test results showed that the interference would rarely be clinically important.
Show BibTeX
@article{jl_2001_cellular_phone_interference_with_2631,
author = {Tri JL and Hayes DL and Smith TT and Severson RP},
title = {Cellular phone interference with external cardiopulmonary monitoring devices.},
year = {2001},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11155403/},
}