New Delhi: People with medical implants like pacemakers must not keep their cellphones on their shirt pockets.
The latest directive by the department of telecommunication (DoT) says that “people having active medical implants should preferably keep the cellphone at least 15cm away from the implant.”
An office memorandum, circulated by the ministry of communications and IT on January 25, says manufacturer’s mobile handset booklets will have to contain the safety precaution. MoS for communications and IT Sachin Pilot said this was one of the recommendations made by the inter-ministerial committee that the DoT has accepted.\“Necessary changes in the design and packaging for compliance with this instruction will have to be in place on or before September 1,” Pilot told TOI.
Senior cardiologist at Escorts Heart Research Centre Dr Aparna Jaswal said it is safe for patients with implants to talk on a cellphone, but they must avoid placing it directly over the pacemaker implantation site when the device is turned on.
“The pacemaker could misinterpret the cellphone signal as a heartbeat and withhold pacing, producing symptoms such as sudden fatigue. The mobile phone must be kept six inches away from pacemaker site and the patient must talk on the phone from the other ear and not the one close to the site,” Dr Jaswal said.
India has over 900 million cellphone users.
According to the US FDA, radio frequency energy (RF) from cellphones can interact with pacemakers which are called electromagnetic interference (EMI). If EMI were to occur, it could affect a pacemaker in one of three ways: stopping the device from delivering the stimulating pulses that regulate the heart’s rhythm, cause it to deliver the pulses irregularly or cause the implant to ignore the heart’s own rhythm and deliver pulses at a fixed rate.
The memorandum circulated by the ministry says cellphone manufacturers must mention the following: use wireless and hands free systems like headphones with a low power blue tooth emitter, make sure the cellphone has a low Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), keep your calls short or send a text message instead. This advice applies especially to children, adolescents and pregnant women. “Use cellphone when the signal quality is good,” the note says.
The latest directive by the department of telecommunication (DoT) says that “people having active medical implants should preferably keep the cellphone at least 15cm away from the implant.”
An office memorandum, circulated by the ministry of communications and IT on January 25, says manufacturer’s mobile handset booklets will have to contain the safety precaution. MoS for communications and IT Sachin Pilot said this was one of the recommendations made by the inter-ministerial committee that the DoT has accepted.\“Necessary changes in the design and packaging for compliance with this instruction will have to be in place on or before September 1,” Pilot told TOI.
Senior cardiologist at Escorts Heart Research Centre Dr Aparna Jaswal said it is safe for patients with implants to talk on a cellphone, but they must avoid placing it directly over the pacemaker implantation site when the device is turned on.
“The pacemaker could misinterpret the cellphone signal as a heartbeat and withhold pacing, producing symptoms such as sudden fatigue. The mobile phone must be kept six inches away from pacemaker site and the patient must talk on the phone from the other ear and not the one close to the site,” Dr Jaswal said.
India has over 900 million cellphone users.
According to the US FDA, radio frequency energy (RF) from cellphones can interact with pacemakers which are called electromagnetic interference (EMI). If EMI were to occur, it could affect a pacemaker in one of three ways: stopping the device from delivering the stimulating pulses that regulate the heart’s rhythm, cause it to deliver the pulses irregularly or cause the implant to ignore the heart’s own rhythm and deliver pulses at a fixed rate.
The memorandum circulated by the ministry says cellphone manufacturers must mention the following: use wireless and hands free systems like headphones with a low power blue tooth emitter, make sure the cellphone has a low Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), keep your calls short or send a text message instead. This advice applies especially to children, adolescents and pregnant women. “Use cellphone when the signal quality is good,” the note says.
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