The new study was conducted at the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta. Researchers tested the impact of three types of common EAS units — pedestals, door frames and under-the-floor systems — on pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators from different manufacturers. They immersed pacemakers and ICDs in a type of saline that imitates the electric properties of human tissue and tested the devices in static positions and using a robot to simulate an individual moving through the EAS devices, leaning toward and facing them.
Results indicated that pedestal systems interfered with cardiac device functioning especially when the devices came in close proximity with the EAS and lingered. The door frame security systems did not interfere with cardiac devices. Under-the-floor systems also did not interfere in preliminary tests; however, researchers suggested if the patient’s chest were to become parallel to the EAS under the floor, serious interactions between the two electronic devices would have been likely.
In 2000, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued recommendations to patients with pacemakers and ICDs regarding EAS machines, advising them not to linger around the systems. Since then, retailers have started to cover traditional pedestal systems with advertising, and the systems hidden beneath the floor and in door frames can easily go unnoticed by patients.
Robert Stevenson, senior scientist at Greatbatch Medical in Santa Clarita, Calif., and study presenter, said, “Electronic anti-theft systems are a part of everyday life, with more than 800,000 pedestals alone installed worldwide. Patients are safe if they walk at a constant pace through the system. EAS gates that are obscured with advertising or goods for sale, or hidden in the floor with couches or chairs adjacent, are a serious concern and EAS manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure that retailers install them in such a way that they are visible and well-marked.”
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