> Once the iPhone was brought close to the ICD over the left chest area, immediate suspension of ICD therapies was noted which persisted for the duration of the test.
Yeah so if you have a pace maker, try not to put magnets near your heart. The main practical impact for smart phone users with pacemakers seems to be that you shouldn’t carry a phone with a magnet mount in your breast pocket.
The article also mentions WHY pacemakers are so sensitive to otherwise benign levels of magnetism:
> All ICD’s have an in-built switch (Reed switch, Hall-effect sensors, Giant magneto sensitive resistors or coils) which respond to an externally applied magnetic field.
It’s not clear from the article what function these magnetic sensors provide. I suspect it’s either a way for the internal device to interface with an external control circuit or just a minimally invasive off switch.