Suzy Cristina Bruno Cabral, Sérgio Santos Mühlen
Biomedical Engineering Department – FEEC and CEB / UNICAMP

Abstract

All electronic equipment may be affected electromagnetically by others or by their working environment and may also generate electromagnetic fields, which can interfere with other equipment. The effects of such interferences are of particular concern when affecting medical devices, mainly while they are monitoring or providing life support to some patient. This study has been carried out within UNICAMP’s Clinic Hospital and aims to determine the immunity and the interference profile of electro medical devices on a pediatric ICU (Intensive Care Unit), regarding mostly electro medical equipment malfunctions when cellular phones are nearby. A list containing the major effects on the equipment as well as the clinical consequences to the patient health is presented. Some ways to avoid and manage electromagnetic risks in electro medical devices are also discussed. Special care is given to the technical standards whose purpose is to prevent such events.

Keywords: electromagnetic interference (EMI), medical hospital devices, cellular phones, risk management.

mciencia@unicamp.br