pacemaker malfunction

[threefingerlee]

Okay I'm 53 male with a st. Jude pacemaker. Today I was wearing a set of wireless headphones. While carving some wood I felt unusually faint. I stopped and took my pulse. Heart rate was 46. Is it possible the headphones interfered with the pacemakers  computer and caused it to stop...my rythum is set at 60bpm...

[Bromley]

In what type of environment do you carve wood? I would scan the area, checking both sides of walls, for things like power supplies, electric motors, transformers, etc. Electric power lines can also be buried underground. (Then go see the doctor).

[Artaud]

Ultimately, Threefingerlee needs to convey the issue to his doctor. If he's set for a minimum rate of 60, and he measured a rate of 45 and regular, the device seems to be at fault or something else in the environment effecting the device. In either case, it bears investigation starting with the integrity of the device first.

There is, for obvious reasons, more discussion online of the magnets in headphones (the wired type) effecting the pacemaker if placed close to it than low powered wireless transmissions, but the one manufacturer did list wireless exposures of the type described in this post as having minimal, and not "no known" associations of the risk of altered functioning.

[tom_h]

While they are far apart in the RF spectrum, I would think that there'd be advisories regarding passing through the RFID "gates" at retail stores.  Bluetooth headphones are 2GHz to 5Ghz, while the RFID antenna gates I believe are around 800MHz. and have an effective radiated power exceeding 1 Watt.  This is a far greater power level than the power emitted from Bluetooth devices.  I'm curious if you have ever been warned about these devices?

[Artaud]

The following link, a PDF Download, lists a competitor's pacemaker exposure to various items as:

No Known, Minimal, and Special Consideration. Wireless headphones are listed as "Minimal", which, to me, indicates that there is a possibility.

http://www.medtronic.com/rhythms/downloads/UC200602918EN.pdf

In addition, I would notify your Doctor about the situation. Many units can be interrogated by a doctor or technician to see events that occurred, battery life, etc. Is your pacemaker a demand unit, that fills in for a slow beat by your heart's natural pacemaker, or are you dependent on it for heart function? Regardless, notifying him/her would be best.

[tom_h]

The RF field generated by a wireless headphones is undoubtedly very weak, so I'm going to say "no".  The best way to see is to try the again.