[Electromagnetic interference in the current era of cardiac implantable electronic devices designed for magnetic resonance environment]

Abstract

In the last decades we are observing a continuous increase in the number of patients wearing cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs). At the same time, we face daily with a domestic and public environment featured more and more by the presence and the utilization of new emitters and finally, more medical procedures are based on electromagnetic fields as well. Therefore, the topic of the interaction of devices with electromagnetic interference (EMI) is increasingly a real and actual problem.In the medical environment most attention is paid to magnetic resonance, nevertheless the risk of interaction is present also with ionizing radiation, electrical nerve stimulation and electrosurgery. In the non-medical environment, most studies reported in the literature focused on mobile phones, metal detectors, as well as on headphones or digital players as potential EMI sources, but many other instruments and tools may be intentional or non-intentional sources of electromagnetic fields.CIED manufacturers are more and more focusing on new technological features in order to make implantable devices less susceptible to EMI. However, patients and emitter manufacturers should be aware that limitations exist and that there is not complete immunity to EMI.