Report: iPods Don't Zap Pacemakers

SYDNEY, NSW - AUGUST 17: A man listens to an iPod MP3 player through earphones August 17, 2005 in Sydney, Australia. Research conducted by the National Acoustic Laboratories, to be released by the Australian Federal Government today, has found that up to a 25% of people who use iPods or other portable music devices will suffer from hearing problems as a result of listening to their players at "excessive and damaging" levels. (GETTY)

(WebMD) New research shows that iPods don't hinder pacemakers.

That finding comes from the FDA's Howard Bassen, who conducted lab tests after reading media reports last year about a reported case of an iPod interfering with a pacemaker.

Bassen tested four iPods -- an iPod nano, an iPod shuffle, an iPod classic, and an iPod classic with video. He positioned the iPods in the air, an inch above a pacemaker placed in salt water to simulate a pacemaker in a person's chest.

The iPods gave off "miniscule" voltages, Bassen writes. He concludes that "it is not possible for interference to be induced in a pacemaker by the music players we tested."

Bassen's findings appear in BioMedical Engineering OnLine.

By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2005-2006 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved

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by brianbwb-2009 February 3, 2008 9:41 AM EST: Well then, can we put a bigger amp in it, crank up the voltage, and give it to Cheney?; Reply to this comment