Effect on pacemakers of airport weapons detectors.
An investigation was carried out using a variety of pacemakers and all the types of weapons detectors in common use in Canada, to determine whether or not such detectors present a hazard to pacemaker bearers. The results indicate that only left-side implants of unipolar sensing pacemakers are likely to be affected, that ventricular fibrillation initiated by interference-induced competitive pacing is the only conceivable hazard, but that the probability of 10(-9) for the occurrence of this event is so low that it may be completely disregarded. Physicians may therefore reassure pacemaker bearers of their safety in and around airport weapons detectors.
D001359:Aviation; D055590:Electromagnetic Phenomena / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D014693:Ventricular Fibrillation / Q000209:etiology*