In our increasingly wireless world, the air is chock-full of electromagnetic signals carrying data from one place to another. Yet, while new wireless technologies advance our options in security, commerce and entertainment, they also produce interference that may cause problems for people with implanted medical devices.

Take electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems, which retailers, libraries and post offices use to prevent theft and track inventory. “EAS systems may cause medical devices to do anything from shutting down to invoking therapy at the wrong time; not a good thing if you’re wearing a defibrillator, which is supposed to shock the heart when needed,” says Ralph Herkert, manager of the EAS/medical device E3 (electromagnetic environmental effects) test center at the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

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