Headphones can interfere with defibrillators and pacemakers

Headphone makers love to brag about the fancy magnets they use to drive their buds, but it turns out that hanging tiny focused magnetic fields around you neck can have unintended consequences -- a new study says that headphones can interfere with heart devices like pacemakers and defibrillators when held within an inch of the device. The interference can be be so disruptive that a defibrillator can fail to fire live-saving electric charges, so we'd say that anyone counting on technology to keep their ticker ticking should be extra-careful with where they stow their 'phones -- and although researchers didn't find any interference from cell phones, it probably can't hurt to keep those out of your shirt pockets as well.

[KAIKAI @ Nov 9th 2008 8:52PM]

oh the possibilities :D

[Flashpoint @ Nov 9th 2008 9:31PM]

Hey look !

its Phanbouy !

[Richard Lai @ Nov 9th 2008 9:37PM]

@Flashpoint: yep, that's you indeed.

[KAIKAI @ Nov 9th 2008 9:54PM]

omg where ??

[a ham sandwich @ Nov 9th 2008 10:11PM]

ok here's my 2 cents. take it for what you will.

being that im taking physics right now, i have to treat this from a physics standpoint. In traditional speakers, the sound cone is driven by a coil of wire in which currents flow. the changing currents induce a magnetic field that exhibits a force (right hand rule!) on the sound cone, creating sound. assuming that this coil of wire can be treated as a solenoid, the strength of the magnetic field (and, by extension, the force) is due only to the magnitude of the current in the wire, and other (for all intensive purposes constant) constants. now, where am i going with this? my question is this: assuming that the headphones are relatively small, the current through the coil must be really small (due to the fact that not only must the wires be skinny but the device powering it is probably an iPod or something else which is only able to supply a small current) and therefore the magnetic field must be really small. ergo (i got that from the matrix 2!) i seriously doubt headphones could create a large enough magnetic field to disrupt a pacemaker.

::exhale:: ok you can wake up now. sorry, all. :(

[Towncivilian @ Nov 9th 2008 10:20PM]

Psst, it's "for all intents and purposes", not "for all intensive purposes", and most certainly not "for all intensive porpoises".

[a ham sandwich @ Nov 9th 2008 10:25PM]

woops! thanks.

[linuxamp @ Nov 9th 2008 11:04PM]

@a ham sandwich - You seem to know a lot about the physics of electromagnets but not enough about speakers. There is another magnet in speakers which is a mineral magnet as opposed to electromagnet. It is used as the opposing force to the voice coil without which the voice coil could not move the speaker diaphragm. The more powerful the mineral magnet, the more efficient the speaker.

It's these new, powerful magnets that pose the threat.

[a ham sandwich @ Nov 9th 2008 11:16PM]

@linux

hmm! interesting insight! if you're referring to ferromagnetic materials, as i assume you are, i hadn't considered that those might be included in speakers. given their properties, i would expect them to have far more of an impact than an electromagnet in this case. i guess that explains it!

[Mike10010100 @ Nov 9th 2008 11:21PM]

Which is why you can take a pair of unplugged ipod headphones and put the two heads together and they will repel each other.... simple, ordinary magnets in tandem with electromagnets.

[a ham sandwich @ Nov 9th 2008 11:36PM]

and this, ladies and gentlemen, is why i

[a ham sandwich @ Nov 9th 2008 11:37PM]

HEART (as in carrot+3) engadget.


^^and that is why i hate its comment system :P

[oGMo @ Nov 9th 2008 8:53PM]

Within *an inch*? The next time a nurse or doctor is wearing headphones as they put their head next to someone's chest right as they're firing the defibrillator trying to make their heart beat again, clearly we'll know what to blame when it all goes horribly wrong.

Magnets.

[Stefan @ Nov 9th 2008 9:05PM]

Yes , an inch ? come on this is a fucking joke

[Ray @ Nov 9th 2008 9:17PM]

"... an inch ? come on this is a fucking joke "

Thats what she said :(

[Stefan @ Nov 9th 2008 9:20PM]

hahahah funny guy

[nerdtalker @ Nov 9th 2008 9:33PM]

I always carry around tons of neodymium magnets, just for this purposed. That, or a powerful electromagnet.

Which reminds me, as long as you keep Tony Stark away from all your pacemaker/defibrillators, we should be good. You know, that whole electromagnet-on-a-chest thing. Ironic?

[mabhatter @ Nov 9th 2008 10:16PM]

it's a good thing somebody put ears way up high away from hearts.

in other news headphones were invented long before pacemakers and such were embedded into bodies... I'd say somebody should have thought about interference when they started putting things in people.

[barry99705 @ Nov 10th 2008 9:28AM]

I think they are talking about the internal defibs. Not the ones making people yell "clear"! Cause you don't want to be anywhere near someone getting hit by one of those.

[Artr @ Nov 9th 2008 8:53PM]

And what about hard drives?

[BratPAQ @ Nov 9th 2008 8:55PM]

you put your hard drives within an inch next to your heart? O_o

[Towncivilian @ Nov 9th 2008 9:03PM]

Doubt hard drives would have any effect. If you've ever disassembled a hard drive and taken out its magnets, one side has very little magnetism due to being affixed to a plate. The magnetism most likely doesn't penetrate the hard drive's exterior, and if it does, it's very minor (although so are headphones).

[gad get @ Nov 10th 2008 1:07AM]

@ BratPAQ

You keep that which you love most, close to your heart, everyone knows that!

[Joshua Walters @ Nov 9th 2008 8:57PM]

I will remember that next time I am saving someones life, or trying to interfere with someone trying to save a life.

More likely the latter.

[lowdef @ Nov 9th 2008 9:04PM]

well...thats awfully cruel of you...

[HOOPER @ Nov 9th 2008 9:25PM]

But what does this mean for Tony Stark?

[HOOPER @ Nov 9th 2008 9:26PM]

Uh, that was not supposed to be a reply. Chalk another one up for Engadget's sucky comment system.

[Stem $ell @ Nov 9th 2008 9:06PM]

What the article fails to mention is that the earbud's powerful magnets so thoroughly stimulate one's sexual chakras that when your bud-induced defibrillator failure finally occurs you can't decide if you're coming or going...

[anantha92 @ Nov 10th 2008 8:24AM]

Get laid.

[Josh @ Nov 9th 2008 9:13PM]

Don't worry though, this song will keep your heart running.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_hkZyL0tWI

[Josh @ Nov 9th 2008 9:25PM]

What kind of dipshit would defib a guy wearing headphones?

I mean it's basic medical practice to remove ALL metallic objects from the body so that the discharge doesn't arc. I've done a course to use AED's and you would never ever leave something electronic on the person before giving them a shock.

Pacemakers i can understand, however.

[Josh R @ Nov 9th 2008 9:39PM]

someone fails at getting sarcasm

[cckrobinson @ Nov 9th 2008 9:40PM]

I believe the article is referring to ICDs (Internal Cardioverter defibrillator) not external defibrillators.

[linuxamp @ Nov 9th 2008 11:07PM]

Well if (s)he's wearing the headphones there's no threat since the article says it must be within an inch. If the headphones are removed and placed in the shirt pocket then it may be a problem.

[Josh @ Nov 10th 2008 6:32AM]

Well it was more that it's a non-situation to begin with.

Paramedics don't usually wear headphones to my knowledge (besides the odd bluetooth headset these days). And neither do patients on the slab.

But i don't think it's sarcasm, if you've got a set of decent headphones (say monitor headphones) then they are going to be pretty close to the point where most pacemakers are if you carry them round your neck. Unlikely it'll do anything, but it isn't as far fetched as you'd think.

[Reader @ Nov 9th 2008 9:37PM]

In other news, putting a pacemaker or defibrillator in range of a strong magnetic field is a bad idea. Who would have known.

[gad get @ Nov 10th 2008 1:03AM]

That just made me think of MRI machines, and how they are extremely dangerous to anyone with a pacemaker... or any metal implanted in their body, for that matter. And from there, I thought of this picture I saw where someone was stupid enough to roll a big metal stretcher into the MRI room... yoink! The stretcher ended up jammed into the center of the MRI scanner! And from there I decided I'd head over to Wikipedia and look at their article on MRI, just because it's interesting. And from there I decided to come back to Engadget and post this comment. Cool, hey? And that led me to ponder over the question of why farts stink. No wait, that was because of something else.

[Voice of Reason @ Nov 9th 2008 9:45PM]

Are you guys idiots?

THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT THINGS TAHT ARE IMPLANTED!!!!!!

So anyone patient wearing one and dangling their headphones around their heads would be affected.

Seriously, for geeks, you sure are stupid...

[Connor @ Nov 9th 2008 9:49PM]

Watch out Dick Cheney!

[BowserUSC @ Nov 9th 2008 9:51PM]

seems like you'd have to be a really skinny person to get your headphones close enough to something implanted in your chest.

[ceptikon @ Nov 9th 2008 11:11PM]

Anyone else think the picture of the guy wearing the headphones is priceless?

He looks like every stereotypical Jack Black fan.

[crazyfishmolester @ Nov 9th 2008 11:58PM]

everybody seems to forget about the zune premium headphones. they have magnets on the back of the headphones to prevent tangling and what not. i have them and they are pretty strong. at least i dont have a pcemaker.

[gad get @ Nov 10th 2008 1:06AM]

Wait, that prevents tangling, how?

[Yevon @ Nov 10th 2008 12:43AM]

Magnets interfere with sensitive medical equipment when put into close proximity!? Shocking.

[Chad Edge @ Nov 10th 2008 2:19AM]

What about cancer? Yeah, that's right, cancer!

I bought a pair of Shure SE102 MPA headphones last week - the safety literature inside read "These headphones contain a chemical known to cause cancer in the state of California."

Many joked with me, "thank God you don't live in California."

But CANCER? Jeebus! That's the last thing I would have expected to read when looking at headphone literature (yeah, I read all that stuff - gotta read something while dropping the kids off, right?)

[CaramelZappa @ Nov 10th 2008 4:16AM]

I just have to say, awesome picture.

[Gert @ Nov 10th 2008 6:09AM]

Waaaaaauuuuwww, and this is news. One of the 1st things you do, is remove stuff like that from the persons body. Imagine defibrilating him with the ears on. Power goes through the body, headphones have a tiny metal plate wich conducts and might possibly cause a smaal burn or even cause to make the headphones to backfire/make a to loud sound wich could deafen the subject.

This the dumbest things i heard among "dont run in lightning with your iPod, the iPod can cause you to get shocked by the lightning."
... Logic and basic knowledge of our surroundings is becoming a rare thing.

[Stem $ell @ Nov 10th 2008 10:17AM]

This bud's for you--logy!

[Dan @ Nov 11th 2008 1:46PM]

The sheer number of people who fail to understand that the article talked about Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs) and not external defibrillators (either the ones installed in cabinets in public places or the paddles at the hospital) is shocking. OK, really, no pun intended.

Anyway, at 33 yrs old, I am such a patient, and I've received copious literature as to what I can be near or not near, how far away I need to be from certain devices, etc. Suffice it to say, putting things in your left breast pocket are out of the question if your ICD is implanted in the standard location (above the left pectoral). Holding, say, an electric hedge trimmer right next to your chest is a bad idea. One would think, "No brainer," but you don't always hold the thing at arm's length when you're working in the yard. Induction cooktops... bad. I actually have to look at these things when house-hunting.

But yeah, this means, don't store your earbuds or PMP in your breast pocket. (And if you know you're going to get defibbed, touch your officemate, since he might get a little shock, too. Unfortunately, in my one experience, it happened with no notice.)

[Richard @ Nov 15th 2008 6:56AM]

Are we talking about headsets with rare earth magnets within very close proximity ? otherwise I say shenanigans.