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RF interference (RFI) of medical devices by mobile communications transmitters

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Mobile Communications Safety

Part of the book series: Telecommunications Technology & Applications Series ((TTAP))

Abstract

In the early 1990s a significant increase in reports of medical device failures from electromagnetic interference (EMI) was noted worldwide (Silberberg, 1993; 1994; Segal et al., 1995). A primary cause of this EMI was identified as radiated radiofrequency (RF) fields emitted by mobile communications transmitter/receivers (transceivers). The increase in reports of medical device failures was due to several factors. These factors included (1) a great increase in the number of electronically-controlled medical devices and (2) a significant increase in the number of sources of RF in the environment. Throughout hospitals and medical facilities (‘the clinical environment’) new medical devices utilizing electronics were installed. Outside the clinical environment, there was and continues to be a great increase in the use of electronically-controlled medical devices. These devices are used in the home, attached to patients, or implanted in their bodies. Often, the newer medical devices were more sensitive to radiofrequency interference (RFI). This was due to the increasing use of low-power integrated electronic circuitry in medical devices. This circuitry can be much more susceptible to electromagnetic fields than its electrical and electromechanical predecessors. The terminology associated with electromagnetic interference is presented in the appendix for this chapter.

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Authors
  1. Howard I. Bassen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland

    Niels Kuster

  2. Motorola Inc., Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA

    Quirino Balzano

  3. University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    James C. Lin

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© 1997 Chapman & Hall

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Bassen, H.I. (1997). RF interference (RFI) of medical devices by mobile communications transmitters. In: Kuster, N., Balzano, Q., Lin, J.C. (eds) Mobile Communications Safety. Telecommunications Technology & Applications Series. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1205-5_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1205-5_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8511-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-1205-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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