Body scanners proven safe for patients with ICDs, pacemakers
Millimeter wave body scanners—standard security measures at airports, train stations and public buildings since the 2000s—are completely safe for heart patients with implantable devices, German researchers reported at last month’s ESC Congress.
The question of whether full-body scanners are safe for those with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), pacemakers and cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) devices isn’t a new one, lead investigator Carsten Lennerz, MSc, said in a release. Many worry the scanner’s electromagnetic field could trigger device malfunction in the form of inappropriate shock therapy or misguided recalculations.
Lennerz, of the German Heart Center Munich, Technical University of Munich and German Centre for Cardiovascular Research, and his colleagues said they developed their study to address that concern.
“A multicenter survey of 800 patients with cardiac devices revealed that eight out of ten worry about the safety of security body scanners and would refuse the scan, preferring a manual check,” Lennerz said in the release. “This takes more time and requires giving medical details to security staff.”
The researchers’ trial comprised 300 patients, all of whom either had an ICD, CRT or pacemaker and underwent mock airport body scans during routine checkups at the German Heart Centre Munich. Lennerz said they recorded electrocardiograms (ECGs) during scans to detect any possible malfunctions caused by electromagnetic interference.
“We found no evidence of electromagnetic interference or device malfunction with the full body scanner we tested and can conclude that scanning is safe for patients with implanted cardiac devices,” he said. “This may be because cardiac devices filter out high frequency signals such as millimeter waves, the waves hardly penetrate the body at all, and the scan time is very short.”
Lennerz said the research is applicable to real life, since the scanners used in the study had the same electromagnetic field as security scanners in airports.
“The study suggests that millimeter wave body scanners pose no threat to patients with pacemakers, ICDs and CRT devices and there is no need for specific protocols or restrictions on their use,” he said.
After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.