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"if you have an implanted defibrillator, don't keep iPhone 12 in a shirt pocket. [or you might die [vastly sooner than the average person]]" Kinda worth making
by okdjnfweonfe 5y ago
"if you have an implanted defibrillator, don't keep iPhone 12 in a shirt pocket. [or you might die [vastly sooner than the average person]]"
Kinda worth making some drama about it, no?
- oneplane 5y agoIs it? Sometimes all you can do is inform. People will still ignore it and do it anyway and die earlier (tobacco, alcohol).
- droopyEyelids 5y agoHow much drama do we make about other magnets?
- webmobdev 5y agoWhat other strong magnets do you keep in your pocket or come into contact with regularly, that can interfere with an implanted medical device that can cause an organ failure?
- pc86 5y agoNobody is forcing anyone to keep any particular magnet anywhere. Plenty of people, including successful tech and non-tech people, do just fine without smartphones. iOS is not a requisite for a fulfilling life. Note it, inform people about it, mitigate the effects where possible and research ways to eliminate the issue entirely. But it's not exactly an emergency by any reasonable definition and the pearl-clutching "drama" is a bit much.
- bdcravens 5y agoLittle, because devices that have strong magnets do a good job of disclosing the fact.
- jjoonathan 5y agoYeah, it's definitely worth the drama, but personally I'm more scandalized that biomedical engineers still use unmodulated magnetic fields to switch implanted defibrillators than I am scandalized by the fact that the iPhone emits a magnetic field. iPhones aren't the only thing that emits a magnetic field. Not by a long shot. Not by accident, not by intent. I'm sure being able to use a magnet to switch these implants is handy, but putting inductive transceivers on every EMT's toolbelt and in every operating room isn't a physics challenge or an engineering challenge, not with the amount of money in the medical world. It's an implementation challenge, yes, but it's one that should have happened 20 years ago. Due to the severity of their work the medical community is used to always getting its way, but in this case they're the ones who need to shape up.
- DaiPlusPlus 5y agoWhy not a subdermal physical switch that could be actuated through the skin? Like a push-button toggle or slider-switch?
- da_chicken 5y agoProbably because people roll over in their sleep and like to carry laundry or groceries by holding the bag to their chest.
- matthewdgreen 5y agoThe minute you require the presence of a non-standard tool for emergency medical attention that could impact an ICD, you've guaranteed that it will not be present in some cases. It's very likely that such a decision will have a body count.