A new study out of the prestigious Mayo Clinic in the U.S. says cell phones do not interfere with hospital medical equipment, suggesting that the usual bans on cell phone use in hospitals are unwarranted. That said, there are some devices, apparently, that could interfere with medical equipment. Some portable CD players, for example, caused odd ECG readings.
METHODS: Two cellular telephones from different cellular carriers were tested in various patient care areas between February 15, 2006, and June 29, 2006. To monitor the medical devices and equipment in the patient care areas during testing, we observed the device displays and alarms.
RESULTS: Interference of any type occurred in 0 of the 75 patient care rooms during the 300 tests performed. These 300 tests involved a total of 192 medical devices. The incidence of clinically important interference was 0% (95% confidence interval, 0%-4.8%).
CONCLUSIONS: Although cellular telephone use in general has been prohibited in hospitals because of concerns that these telephones would interfere with medical devices, this study revealed that when cellular telephones are used in a normal way no noticeable interference or interactions occurred with the medical devices.