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. 2023 Mar 3;20(5):4512.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20054512.

5G Service and Pacemakers/Implantable Defibrillators: What Is the Actual Risk?

Cecilia Vivarelli  1   2 , Federica Censi  1 , Giovanni Calcagnini  1 , Ermenegildo De Ruvo  3 , Leonardo Calò  3 , Eugenio Mattei  1
Affiliations

5G Service and Pacemakers/Implantable Defibrillators: What Is the Actual Risk?

Cecilia Vivarelli et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Rapidly growing worldwide, 5G service is expected to deeply change the way we communicate, connect and share data. It encompasses the whole spectrum of new technology, infrastructure and mobile connectivity, and will touch not only every sector in the industry, but also many aspects of our everyday life. Although the compliance with international regulations provides reasonable protection to public health and safety, there might be specific issues not fully covered by the current technical standards. Among the aspects that shall be carefully considered, there is the potential interference that can be induced on medical devices, and in particular on implantable medical devices that are critical for the patient's life, such as pacemakers and implantable defibrillators. This study aims to assess the actual risk that 5G communication systems pose to pacemakers and implantable defibrillators. The setup proposed by the ISO 14117 standard was adapted to include 5G characteristic frequencies of 700 MHz and 3.6 GHz. A total number of 384 tests were conducted. Among them, 43 EMI events were observed. Collected results reveal that RF hand-held transmitters operating in these two frequency bands do not pose additional risk compared to pre-5G bands and that the safety distance of 15 cm typically indicted by the PM/ICD manufacturer is still able to guarantee the patient's safety.

Keywords: 5G; EMI; ICDs; exposure assessment; pacemakers.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Schematic representation of the test setup according to ISO 14117. (b) Highlight of one test conducted on a PM.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The flow chart of the test procedure followed for PM measurements. A total of 48 measurements for each PM were collected.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The flow chart of the test procedure followed for ICDs measurements. A total of 32 measurements for each ICD were collected.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Example of acquired signal on an ICD recording an EMI event.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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