The electromagnetic interference of mobile phones on the function of a γ-camera.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the present study is to evaluate whether or not the electromagnetic field generated by mobile phones interferes with the function of a SPECT γ-camera during data acquisition.


METHODS
We tested the effects of 7 models of mobile phones on 1 SPECT γ-camera. The mobile phones were tested when making a call, in ringing mode, and in standby mode. The γ-camera function was assessed during data acquisition from a planar source and a point source of Tc with activities of 10 mCi and 3 mCi, respectively. A significant visual decrease in count number was considered to be electromagnetic interference (EMI).


RESULTS
The percentage of induced EMI with the γ-camera per mobile phone was in the range of 0% to 100%. The incidence of EMI was mainly observed in the first seconds of ringing and then mitigated in the following frames.


CONCLUSIONS
Mobile phones are portable sources of electromagnetic radiation, and there is interference potential with the function of SPECT γ-cameras leading to adverse effects on the quality of the acquired images.
From the *Golestan Research Center of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan; †Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taleghani Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran; and ‡The Persian Gulf Nuclear Medicine Research Center, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran; and §Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV.
Hamid
H
Javadi
Zahra
Z
Azizmohammadi
Ali
A
Mahmoud Pashazadeh
Isa
I
Neshandar Asli
Taleb
T
Moazzeni
Nastaran
N
Baharfar
Babak
B
Shafiei
Iraj
I
Nabipour
Majid
M
Assadi
D040421:Cell Phone; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D015902:Gamma Cameras; D013667:Technetium
D013667:Technetium