Radio-frequency identification (RFID) may sound like a strange technology, but these RFID chips, as they're called, are all around us.And that could be of big concern to pacemaker people.
RFID are super-small electronic chips that may or may not be battery powered (some have a battery, some are passive). They are used to track or help identify certain things, in much the same way that bar codes can be used.
If you have one of those E-Z passes or deal in your car to use toll roads, you have RFID technology at work. You can also find RFID guarding the books in the big libraries. (RFID tags identify the books and can help find them when they go missing; however, not all libraries can afford them).
Wal-Mart requires all suppliers who send them goods to use RFID tags so that they can track their merchandise through the "supply chain.'
Casinos are putting RFIDs in chips. The idea, on paper, is that these RFID-tagged chips will help prevent counterfeits, but it has been suggested that these tags will help casino owners study betting behaviors.
Animals can be tagged using RFID to study migration or for ranchers to avoid rustlers. Remember how I said RFID chips could be very tiny? They can tag ants! Some RFIDs are the size of dust particles.
Some credit cards and cell phones are using RFID for identification purposes. Hospitals use RFID like bar codes to help "tag" assets and keep track of things. At least one drug company is using RFID chips to help keep track of certain opioid painkillers.
There is even one European club owner who offers to implant the super-tiny RFID chip in his VIP clients' hands, so that they can get access to the club's most exclusive rooms and pay by just a "swipe" of their hand.
All of this may sound like James Bond, and there are indications that spies use this stuff, too. But RFID is growing.
The issue for pacemaker people involves RFID readers, the devices that help pick up the signals from RFID chips. For instance, if you have an E-Z pass on your car, there is a "reader" at the toll booth that sends out a signal and confirms your pass is valid. These readers send out radio signals that may potentially interfere with implantable devices.
A study reported from RFIDNews.org on January 7, 2010 found that RFID readers that use low-frequency have the potential to interfere with pacemakers. Most RFID readers use high-frequency signals and pacemakers are pretty well protected from interference along those frequencies by virtue of their built-in filter systems.
Low-frequency RFID readers may interfere with some pacemaker. A lab test (pacemakers in a lab, not pacemakers in people) found that a low-frequency RFID-reader interfered with 67% of pacemakers and 47% of ICDs but the distances of these tests were 2.5 to 60 cm which is 1 to 24 inches.
Further, the interference was directly related to how far away the low-frequency RFID reader was located. The closer the reader, the stronger the interference.
Interference can affect pacemakers and defibrillators in different ways and could result in inappropriate pacing, changes in the pacing rate, and device reprogramming; in a defibrillator, it might result in an inappropriate shock.
While this may sound alarming, the FDA to date has received no reports of any person with a pacemaker or defibrillator having experienced RFID interference. However, as RFID chips and the readers that interpret them become more common, people with pacemakers and defibrillators should be aware of them.
The FDA has not issued any sort of warning statement and most companies do not specifically warn about RFID readers.
