Pacemakers on a roller test bench - TUM

Research news - Pacemakers and defibrillators are often implanted in patients with heart failure or cardiac arrhythmias to regulate heart function. These devices are susceptible to electromagnetic interference, which can potentially occur in electric cars. In a recent study, however, a team led by Dr. Carsten Lennerz, a cardiologist at the German Heart Centre Munich and scientist at the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), concludes that current electric cars pose no threat to patients. "We wanted to provide reliable evidence on the safety of electric cars for people with pacemakers and defibrillators. We thought it important especially to avoid unnecessary restrictions", says Dr. Carsten Lennerz, a cardiologist at the Department of Cardiovascular Diseases at German Heart Centre Munich, hospital at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) . After all, says Lennerz, electric cars are increasingly used in public and private transport. He therefore investigated what effects electric cars' electromagnetic fields have on cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs).