This article is from WeChat official account:IT Times (ID: vittimes)< span class="text-remarks">, the original title: “Real hammer! iPhone 12 can be forced to stop cardiac defibrillator, a magnetic field 30 times over the safety threshold value “, the title figure comes from: Feng Cheng Jie, Author: Sun Yan, Hao Junhui, Video: Feng Cheng Jie
Recently, Apple’s official website issued a warning not to place iPhone12 and MagSafe accessories too close to ICD(implantable cardioverter defibrillator) etc. Medical equipment.
Previously, a foreign medical academic journal “Heart Rhythm” published a study in which three doctors tested and found that after placing an iPhone 12 on the patient’s left chest area where the ICD was implanted, the ICD immediately entered a “suspended” state.
This means that the patient is in danger. If the patient has ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation at this time, and the ICD has been suspended, the patient may lose his life within two minutes.
How did the 10,000 yuan Apple iPhone 12 “force stop” the 100,000 yuan ICD? In order to find out, “IT Times” and Shanghai Telecom Internet of ThingsThe laboratory conducted an experiment.
Experimental results not only prove that the above-mentioned research is not unfounded, but experts also pointed out that with the increase of electronic products in life, similar electromagnetic risks are increasing for ICD patients. The design of new products requires the government and manufacturers to consider this comprehensively. .
Experiments show that 10,000 yuan mobile phones forced to stop 100,000 ICD
The research published in “Heart Rhythm” was immediately confirmed by the pacemaker equipment manufacturer Abbott Medical Products (Shanghai) .
On January 27th, a reporter from “IT Times” obtained an exclusive copy of Abbott’s “Influence of Mobile Phones and Base Stations on Abbott’s Implantable Pacemaker Devices”, showing that Abbott’s ICD(implantable cardioverter defibrillator)/PM(artificial cardiac pacemaker) Span> The compatibility test with the mobile phone shows that the external magnetic field does directly interfere with medical equipment such as ICD or cardiac pacemakers. Newly marketed mobile phones, such as the iPhone 12, are equipped with a higher magnetic field. If they are close to the device implanted in the heart, it may inhibit the detection of arrhythmia and suspend treatment.
For further verification, “IT Times” and the Shanghai Telecom Internet of Things Lab jointly conducted a simulation experiment to simulate a “heart” implanted in an ICD with a pacing and defibrillation simulator. Normally, when the patient When the symptoms of malignant arrhythmia diseases such as sudden ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation occur, ICD will automatically perform discharge defibrillation treatment.
But in the experiment, when the iPhone 12 was posted on the ICDAt the time, the simulated ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation symptoms did not improve, and the ICD failed. Only after moving the iPhone 12 a long distance away, the ICD resumes work.
“The ICD equivalent to 70,000 to 100,000 yuan can not play a key role in defibrillation rescue.” Abbott Medical (Shanghai) company engineer Yuan Xinpu explained to the IT Times reporter, “Once a patient develops ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation, if the ICD does not work immediately, the patient will faint at once. The most serious consequence is that there may be life-threatening within two minutes.”
So, how does the iPhone 12 “force stop” the pacemaker?
In the “Heart Rhythm” article, the researcher pointed out that there is a circular magnet array around the central charging coil on the back of the iPhone 12 to be compatible with MagSafe accessories and to help the iPhone align with the wireless charger and other peripheral accessories. Simply put, it is to “grab” the charging ring with a magnet, and it is this ring of magnet that generates a larger magnetic field.
IPhone 12 Pro Max perspective view Source: Abbott
Cao Hongyi, a wireless network optimization expert from Shanghai Telecom’s Internet of Things Lab, used a Tesla meter to fit the back of iPhone 12 many times. Test results showed that the maximum magnetic field strength of iPhone 12 exceeded 30mT(millitesla), it can even soar to 40mT in an instant.
Picture source: IT Times
According to design standards, a magnetic field above 1mT will have an impact on pacemaker equipment, and the magnetic field strength of the iPhone 12 is more than 30 times this threshold. In other words, if the patient puts the iPhone12 in the chest pocket, the ICD will suffer more than 30 times the magnetic field pressure, which will cause instant failure.
Users can also perform a simple test on their iPhone 12. The Abbott’s technical manager Chen Dadong used the magnetic field test app in Samsung’s mobile phone to test the back of the iPhone 12 Pro Max. The data shows that the magnetic field strength is 4384μT, which is 4.384mT Even though the sensitivity of this software test is low, it exceeds the safety threshold by more than 3 times.
Comparison test: iPhone 12’s magnetic field is higher than other wireless charging phones
Apple emphasized in the updated technical documents that in order to support the newly launched magnetic wireless charging function, more magnets have been added, but compared with the previous generation models, the risk of interference with medical devices of the iPhone 12 has not increased.
Is it true?
Huawei Mate 20, ZTE Tianji 10, iPhone 11 and iPhone 12, Cao Hongyi compared and tested these four mobile phones that support wireless charging. The results show that the magnetic field of iPhone 12 is much higher than that of other mobile phones. In the same environment, when the magnetic field of the other 3 mobile phones is almost zero, the magnetic field of the iPhone 12 has already exceeded 2.1mT.
Because in addition to the magnets around the coil of the iPhone 12, other parts of the phone, such as the camera’s focus module, speakers, etc., will also contain magnets of varying amounts and magnetism, which will affect the pacemaker.
So, is 15 cm always safe?
Cao Hongyi shortened the test distance to a more challenging 12 cm. The magnetic field strength of the iPhone 12 is displayed as 0. Therefore, it can be basically considered that 15 cm is a safe distance. The length of an iPhone 12 Pro is 14.5 cm, and the length of an iPhone 12 Pro Max is 16 cm. In other words, the length of a mobile phone is basically a safe distance.
Picture source: IT Times
In the daily use of mobile phones, doctors usually recommend that patients implanted with pacemakers or defibrillators should put the mobile phone in the opposite ear of the device to answer the call, and try to avoid the mobile phone close to the heart.
In addition, some medical equipment manufacturers take into account the risk of electromagnetic interference, and doctors can turn on the “magnet response ignore” mode outside the body with one click, but currently only a few medical equipment manufacturers such as Abbott can do it.
This article comes fromWeChat Official Account: IT Times (ID: vittimes)< span class = "text-remarks">, author: Sun Yan, Hao Junhui, video: Feng Cheng Jie