At the 28th annual Heart Rhythm Society’s meeting on May 10th, most of the attention was focused on a 17-year-old high school student who presented a study of the effects of iPods on pacemakers.
Originally intrigued by reports about cell phones’ effects on pacemakers, the student wondered if iPods would have interfering effects as well.
Michigan high school student Jay Thaker worked with a professor of cardiovascular medicine and electrophysiologists, but the bulk of the research was done by the teen himself. Dr. Krit Jongnarangsin, assistant professor at the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Michigan, told the press, "At first I was surprised when Jay contacted me with the idea. He seemed genuinely interested in doing the research and has a real curiosity about the subject. I felt comfortable with Jay doing the [study]."
The analysis performed by Thaker and his group showed some kind of iPod interference in more than 50% of single and dual chamber pacemaker patients studied. The group studied a group of 83 patients with a median age of 76.1. The experiment involved holding an iPod two inches from the chest area for a period of five to ten seconds.
They discovered three separate types of problems. Telemetry interference, in which the pacemaker can misread the rate of a patient’s heartbeat, occurred in 29% of the patients. Oversensing, or sensing heart problems where there are none, occurred in 20% of patients, and in one case iPod interference caused a pacemaker to stop working completely. Misreading can create problems for heart patients by causing them to be treated incorrectly. "If a physician was to go back and look at [the pacemaker’s history], the physician might think that the patient was having abnormal heart rhythms," said Thaker.
Even when the iPods were held as far away as 18 inches from the pacemakers, there were still registered disruptions to the telemetry equipment. Thayer admitted that while most 77-year-old heart patients are not the prime target market for iPods, the risks are still significant enough to merit warnings. Jongnarangsin agreed. "Most patients are not iPod users – [but] this needs to be studied more," he said to the press, adding that many older patients do have grandchildren who visit while wearing the trendy devices.
While the study was done on a small-scale level with a limited patient test group, Thayer is receiving national attention because no other studies documenting iPod effects on pacemakers have yet been published. Thayer, whose parents are an electrophysiologist and a rheumatologist, plans to attend medical school. His next project idea is to study the iPod’s effects on implanted cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs).
The teen is taking the attention he’s received for his study in stride. Michigan’s Okemos high school, where Thayer attends, is celebrating his accomplishments. Okemos principal John Lanzetta told reporters, "We’ve been so proud…when students engage in internships and research. One doesn’t normally expect medical breakthroughs from a 17-year-old high school student."
Originally intrigued by reports about cell phones’ effects on pacemakers, the student wondered if iPods would have interfering effects as well.
Michigan high school student Jay Thaker worked with a professor of cardiovascular medicine and electrophysiologists, but the bulk of the research was done by the teen himself. Dr. Krit Jongnarangsin, assistant professor at the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Michigan, told the press, "At first I was surprised when Jay contacted me with the idea. He seemed genuinely interested in doing the research and has a real curiosity about the subject. I felt comfortable with Jay doing the [study]."
The analysis performed by Thaker and his group showed some kind of iPod interference in more than 50% of single and dual chamber pacemaker patients studied. The group studied a group of 83 patients with a median age of 76.1. The experiment involved holding an iPod two inches from the chest area for a period of five to ten seconds.
They discovered three separate types of problems. Telemetry interference, in which the pacemaker can misread the rate of a patient’s heartbeat, occurred in 29% of the patients. Oversensing, or sensing heart problems where there are none, occurred in 20% of patients, and in one case iPod interference caused a pacemaker to stop working completely. Misreading can create problems for heart patients by causing them to be treated incorrectly. "If a physician was to go back and look at [the pacemaker’s history], the physician might think that the patient was having abnormal heart rhythms," said Thaker.
Even when the iPods were held as far away as 18 inches from the pacemakers, there were still registered disruptions to the telemetry equipment. Thayer admitted that while most 77-year-old heart patients are not the prime target market for iPods, the risks are still significant enough to merit warnings. Jongnarangsin agreed. "Most patients are not iPod users – [but] this needs to be studied more," he said to the press, adding that many older patients do have grandchildren who visit while wearing the trendy devices.
While the study was done on a small-scale level with a limited patient test group, Thayer is receiving national attention because no other studies documenting iPod effects on pacemakers have yet been published. Thayer, whose parents are an electrophysiologist and a rheumatologist, plans to attend medical school. His next project idea is to study the iPod’s effects on implanted cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs).
The teen is taking the attention he’s received for his study in stride. Michigan’s Okemos high school, where Thayer attends, is celebrating his accomplishments. Okemos principal John Lanzetta told reporters, "We’ve been so proud…when students engage in internships and research. One doesn’t normally expect medical breakthroughs from a 17-year-old high school student."
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