[Nfbwv-talk] Use of some Apple products and pacemakers and defibrillators.

[Smyth, Charlene R]

Article from Bucks County Courier Times Homes Real Estate 2013

05 19

Date: 

Sun, 19 May 2013 23:18:53 -0400 (EDT)

 

H.I.T.S. 

 

By Eric Schulze 

 

I'm starting off this week with a serious article that I found,
detailing how a 14-year-old girl named Gianna Chien discovered that the
magnets in the cover of an iPad2 can accidentally turn off a person's
implantable defibrillator. Gianna is going to present her findings
(originally done for a school science fair) in front of 8,000 doctors at
the Heart Rhythm Society. 

 

According to the article, if you have an implantable
cardioverter-defibrillator, your heart is automatically restarted with
an electric shock every time it stops keeping a normal rhythm. Of
course, sometimes these devices go a little funny and need to be
adjusted or replaced, so there's a way to turn them off. 

 

It's done by holding a strong magnet against a patient's chesta and
guess what? You can use an iPad Smart Cover's 30 embedded magnets, or
even just an iPad held against the chest, to do the same thing. 

 

While most defibrillators will just come back on when the magnet is
removed, some don't, meaning that someone could shut down their
defibrillator and not even know it until a couple of days later. 

 

To be fair, this isn't specifically an issue with Apple's iPad; any
magnets of sufficient strength will do. Apple even warns people on its
site that people with pacemakers (which a defibrillator essentially is)
should keep the iPad at least six inches away from their chest. 

 

Still, the danger isn't well known despite Apple's warnings. Chien's
study is raising awareness that, if you have a defibrillator, falling
asleep with an iPad on your chest at night is a poor idea; 30 percent of
patients who put an iPad on their chest found that their defibrillators
shut down. 

 

In other news, I was also was reading an article with some iPhone tips
last week. One really annoying feature of taking pics with my iPhone is
that it makes that loud clicking noise like a regular camera shutter
that invariably causes people to turn around and wonder what you're
doing. 

 

The solution is as simple as hitting the mute switch on the side of the
phone. Everything still works, of course, but there's no more annoying
click every time you take pics of your wife on the couch asleep and
snoring. 

 

Speaking of iPhone pics, I've been using this incredible app called
KitCam (at http://kitcamapp.com/). It's loaded with features and makes
pictures look amazing. They look so good, in fact, that my Olympus
digital camera sits hooked up to my iMac and unused. Another really good
app that I use is Topcamera (at http://www.iphoneclan.com/topcamera/.
The cameras on the newer iPhones have a really cool panorama feature
that is often shown on TV, but it's not quite as easy to master as they
present it to be. 

 

Another thing that we're constantly complaining about in this column is
keeping electronic devices charged. A really good article on this
subject is at
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/05/13/the-future-of-wireless-power/.
It goes into great depth about "wireless charging. 

 

In the past, Doren and I have seen various products like those electric
charging mats. You have to buy numerous receivers for your devices, then
you can plonk a few down at a time on one of those mats. 

 

In case you're too lazy to surf on over, here's a bit from the article:

Power is the final cord that needs to be cut for complete wireless
freedom.

Not only does the technology exist, it's already showing up in consumer
technology. 

 

Called magnetic induction, the technology allows power to be transferred
without wires. You simply have to set your deviceaphone, laptop, tablet
or anything else with an embedded receiver on a charging station, as the
technology works best over short distances. Tthe greater the distance
the less efficient the transfer is, but there are companies
experimenting with transmitting power over further distances, and the
limits could change as the technology advances - Duracell Powermat, for
example are already available, and eventually the receivers will be
built-in to phones and other devices. 

 

The recently released Nexus 4 can be charged wirelessly, as well as the
Nokia Lumia 920, and there's been speculation for years about wireless
charging being built into an upcoming iPhone. Wireless power is already
becoming commonplace in Japan. 

 

Stateside, Intel has demonstrated a laptop with a wireless charger
built-in and the 2013 Dodge Dart is the first car to offer a wireless
charging mat inside, and there are now other cars offering the same kind
of technology. 

 

I think the most annoying part is REMEMBERING to charge things up. I'm
pretty good with iPads and iPhones, but fall down on things like
electric drills, sanders, camcorder batteries, etc., which can be a
expensive mistake. 

 

Finally, a word of caution about rechargeable batteries. Last summer, my
wife put a 19-volt weed whacker battery in a plastic bag along with a
few items to take outside to cut the grass. One of these items was a set
of keys. The keys made contact with the charging terminals and the
battery caught fire inside the bag! 

 

I still clearly hear her incredulous tone as she told me. IT GOT REALLY
HOT and I had to throw it out in the driveway! 

 

I long for a future in which you can just put your device down on a
desktop and it charges automatically. With that fabulous thought, I'll
wish you a warm and wonderful week until next time. Cheerio till then!