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For Your Safety
11. What about wireless phone interference
with medical equipment?
Radio Frequency (RF) energy from wireless
phones can interact with some electronic
devices. For this reason, the FDA helped
develop a detailed test method to measure
Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI)
of implanted cardiac pacemakers and
defibrillators from wireless telephones.
This test method is now part of a standard
sponsored by the Association for the
Advancement of Medical Instrumentation
(AAMI). The final draft, a joint effort by the
FDA, medical device manufacturers, and many
other groups, was completed in late 2000. This
standard will allow manufacturers to ensure
that cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators are
safe from wireless phone EMI.
The FDA has tested hearing aids for
interference from handheld wireless phones
and helped develop a voluntary standard
sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers (IEEE). This standard
specifies test methods and performance
requirements for hearing aids and wireless
phones so that no interference occurs when
a person uses a “compatible” phone and a
“compatible” hearing aid at the same time.
This standard was approved by the IEEE in
2000.
The FDA continues to monitor the use of
wireless phones for possible interactions
with other medical devices. Should harmful
interference be found to occur, the FDA will
conduct testing to assess the interference and
work to resolve the problem.
12. Where can I find additional information?
For additional information, please refer to the
following resources:
FDA web page on wireless phones
(http://www.fda.gov/cellphones/)
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) RF
Safety Program
(http://www.fcc.gov/oet/rfsafety)
International Commission on Non-lonizing
Radiation Protection
(http://www.icnirp.de)
World Health Organization (WHO) International
EMF Project
(http://www.who.int/emf)
National Radiological Protection Board (UK)
(http://www.hpa.org.uk/radiation/)