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14-Year-Old Discovers iPad Smart Cover Magnets Can Shut Off Implanted Defibrillators
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But this doesn't appear to be pacemaker related either, rather defibrillator related.
Sigh. I hate how these sites are so desperate for site clicks that everything and anything is considered front page news.
Magnets affect both pacemakers and defibrillators.
In pacemakers, a magnet can impair sensing of the patient's own rhythm and causes it to pace in an asynchronous mode at a fixed heart rate.
When exposed t magnets some defibrillators may be programmed not to respond at all. Some may have their tachyarrhythmia features turned off (until the magnet is removed and then reapplied). In most cases, when a magnet is held over an ICD generator, the device will not sense (and thus not treat) tachyarrhythmias.
That magnets affect these devices is NOT news. That some kid used the magnet in an APPLE product to affect a defibrillator somehow makes it news.
In pacemakers, a magnet can impair sensing of the patient's own rhythm and causes it to pace in an asynchronous mode at a fixed heart rate.
When exposed t magnets some defibrillators may be programmed not to respond at all. Some may have their tachyarrhythmia features turned off (until the magnet is removed and then reapplied). In most cases, when a magnet is held over an ICD generator, the device will not sense (and thus not treat) tachyarrhythmias.
That magnets affect these devices is NOT news. That some kid used the magnet in an APPLE product to affect a defibrillator somehow makes it news.
It was obviously sarcasm. Apparently jokes about Samsung don't go over very well around here.
Samsung fanboys certainly are thin skinned.
Is it still really news if Apple has been documenting that fact all along for a while now?
What should be news is usual ignorance of the general populace...but unfortunately that's not even anything new or surprising.
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You're absolutely right... There is a difference between pacemakers and defibrillators (ICDs). A magnet will prevent the tachyarrhythmia therapies in an ICD from being delivered - say during a surgical procedure when electrocautery is used. This "magnet response" can be programmed off in many devices. A magnet has a completely different function when used with a pacemaker... It will typically cause the pacemaker to pace asynchronously at a rate faster than the programmed rate (e.g. 100 beats/min) so that a clinician can determine capture of the pacing pulses... the magnet rate also gives an indication of how "strong" the battery still is. The funny thing is the photo in this story is of a pacemaker that's primarily used for pediatric patients... an ICD is MUCH bigger!
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Or I guess them with heart problems will have to stick with Android or Windows tablets.
Not windows. Remember the magnet that makes the keyboard cover 'click'
Did you know there are magnets in the iPad? Did the Doc tell Daddy to avoid magnets?
Then you knew. Or you should have had you not made assumptions.
I would bet that if you went out into the street and asked random people if the iPad had magnets in it - most would say they had no idea or no. It's not that big of an assumption to make. Not everyone reads any/every story about the iPad. Many just buy them without reading a darn thing.
So what if the average person doesn't know Shaun himself indicated that he knew there are magnets he just assumed they weren't an issue. So the issue isn't the magnets which he knew about but the assumption he made.
But I'm asking you - what difference does his use case make. The bigger picture is - it's not "obvious."
I didn't say you were arguing the validity of this "research" and article. But some are stating basically "duh." I think that even if "obvious" to people like us - that it's a valid story and even if it saves ONE life because someone read a news story about the iPad having magnets - mission accomplished. All of the comments in this thread that are bashing a 14 year old or making it sound like it's either not an issue or anyone should know this are just obnoxious in my opinion. Low hanging fruit.
Apple should seriously consider hiring at least half the people posting in this thread. Seriously. There's nothing better than a PR team who earnestly believes the crap they're shoveling.
I think you're right.
I don't know about this article, either. There is the semantic confusion. There is no link to Ms. Chien's study, so we don't know how it was conducted. And we don't know the ages of the devices in question.
BLParks12's statement echoes my experience. I work on the cardiac floor of a hospital, and when a patient who has an ICD expires, the pacer magnets do not turn off the pacemaker. I was perplexed by this the first time I saw it. A company rep has to come up and turn off the pacemaker.
I'm providing a link to give some context:
http://allnurses.com/ccu-nursing-coronary/question-regarding-pacemakers-283467.html
Bloomberg should be more responsible in its reporting.
I don't know about this article, either. There is the semantic confusion. There is no link to Ms. Chien's study, so we don't know how it was conducted. And we don't know the ages of the devices in question.
BLParks12's statement echoes my experience. I work on the cardiac floor of a hospital, and when a patient who has an ICD expires, the pacer magnets do not turn off the pacemaker. I was perplexed by this the first time I saw it. A company rep has to come up and turn off the pacemaker.
I'm providing a link to give some context:
http://allnurses.com/ccu-nursing-coronary/question-regarding-pacemakers-283467.html
Bloomberg should be more responsible in its reporting.
It's not so much the subject that's an issue. I mean magnets - pacemaker - bad. It shouldn't come as a huge surprise to anyone.
...though playing Devil's Advocate, it's not immediately obvious that the iPad does have magnets squirreled away inside the casing.
The problem is the quality of responses. There are some people who literally cannot stomach any negative PR about Apple. Remember the bent iPhone 5 situation? Yeah. The backlash from that was about the least maturely handled thing I've ever seen on this board. And now this? You could cut the derision with a knife, and play count the sneers even before the end of page 1.
While Macrumors is one of the more levelheaded Apple specific sites around, it does still have its moments. Some of you are far, far, far too emotionally invested with your toys.
I
Definitely. There are plenty of people here who blindly follow everything apple says and also people who blindly make generalizations about apple users based on a few. In this thread though, apple is not shoveling any crap. That's why I asked.
The voice of the blind followers is far louder than those who aren't. Both sides are just as guilty as believing shoveled crap and no one side is less blind than the other.
Definitely. There are plenty of people here who blindly follow everything apple says and also people who blindly make generalizations about apple users based on a few. In this thread though, apple is not shoveling any crap. That's why I asked.
The voice of the blind followers is far louder than those who aren't. Both sides are just as guilty as believing shoveled crap and no one side is less blind than the other.
