Chicago, May 11 (Reuters): iPods can cause cardiac implantable pacemakers to malfunction by interfering with the electromagnetic equipment monitoring the heart, according to a study presented by a 17-year-old high school student at a meeting of heart specialists yesterday.

The study tested the effect of the portable music devices on 100 patients, whose mean age was 77, outfitted with pacemakers. Electrical interference was detected when the iPod was held just 2 inches from the patient’s chest for 5 to 10 seconds.

In some cases, the iPods caused interference when held 18 inches from the chest. Interfering with the telemetry equipment caused the device to misread the heart’s pacing and, in one case, caused the pacemaker to stop functioning altogether.

Jay Thaker, lead author of the study and a student at Okemos High School in Okemos, Michigan, concluded that iPod interference can lead physicians to misdiagnose actual heart function.

Thaker, whose father is an electrophysiologist, said he asked his dad about a potential interaction between pacemakers and iPods.

“We looked online but didn’t see anything. Then, one of his patients asked him if there would be a problem, so (my father) put me in touch with Dr Krit (Jongnarangsin),” Thaker said. Jongnarangsin is the senior author of the study.