The fruits of ongoing surveillance: Wireless technology research, L.L.C.'s clinical risk evaluation research

• Published in: Human and ecological risk assessment Vol. 3; no. 1; pp. 75 - 84
• Main Authors: Findlay, Gretchen K., Carlo, George L., Johnson, Claudine M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 01.02.1997
• Subjects: cellular telephones; electromagnetic interference; pacemaker; radiofrequency radiation
• ISSN: 1080-7039; 1549-7860
• DOI: 10.1080/10807039709383670

To address the issue of electromagnetic interference between wireless telephones in the 800 to 900 MHz and 1800 to 2200 MHz frequency ranges and implanted pacemakers, the Wireless Technology Research, L.L.C. (WTR) developed a three-phase approach. The first phase included clinical studies to assess if and how pacemakers and telephones interact in vivo. The second phase involved the evaluation of the clinical and public health significance of such interference by an independent panel of cardiologists and other experts in the field. The third phase included recommendations for corrective intervention. The protocol for the WTR's first clinical study, conducted in triplicate, was developed in a collaborative effort by representatives from government, academia, wireless communications and health instruments industries, and health care. It tested 980 patients to determine the prevalence of interference with implanted pacemakers set at their clinically appropriate settings, with five different telephone technologies held in normal use positions and in a series of movements over the pacemakers. Interference of some sort was seen in about half the patients, mostly when the telephone was maneuvered directly over the pacemaker. The WTR funded an additional clinical study to assess distance between pacemakers and telephones, telephone orientation, pacemaker sensitivity settings, and telephone emission characteristics.