re: Could Headphones interfere with a Pacemaker or Defibrillator?

BioBlogger — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:40:10 GMT

This actually makes a lot of sense. Pacemakers are implanted into your chest cavity, probably only an inch or two from the surface. They are electrical devices, and so are prone to electric interference from magnets. So if you have a pacemaker, get very weak headphones and don't put them near your chest.

I'll try to explain how pacemakers and defibrilators work.

The heart has to beat constantly or you will die. It is a complex pump made up of 4 chambers lined with muscles. When one set of chambers squeezes, the other set relaxes, allowing blood to move. Your heartbeat is the sound of these rhythmic contractions.

If all chambers squeeze at once, or relax at once, no blood will move. This will cause a person to die in minutes. The rhythm of contractions is basically what keeps you alive. Your heart is controlled by a set of electrical impulses controlled by nerves specifically designed to keep this rhythm. If these nerves impulses fire too often or too little, it can cause a heart attack.

The pacemaker basically replaces these nerves with an electrical device that does the same thing, keeping the heartbeat steady. If too many impulses fire too often, the whole heart contracts and no motion is possible. A defibrilator sends a shock to stun the muscles and reset their rhythm. It's like tripping a circuit breaker in your heart.

re: Could Headphones interfere with a Pacemaker or Defibrillator?

Alexgreene — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:31:34 GMT

That would not be cool to be jammin to your music and when you take your earphones off you have a heart attack because the magnets and the interference. Not cool.