Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Jeffrey Smith

A new study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association has found that electromagnetic interference generated by RFID chips can interfere with key medical equipment in hospitals.

"Scientists set up two different kinds of RFID devices inside an empty intensive care unit room," writes TechNewsWorld's JR Raphael. "They measured whether electromagnetic interference from the chips was reaching 41 nearby Medical devices, ranging from pacemakers to dialysis systems. The researchers found 22 'hazardous' incidences of interference. These included, they say, ventilators switching off or changing rates, syringe pumps stopping, external pacemakers malfunctioning, and kidney replacement devices shutting down."

"It is surprising that the tags generate any interference at all, since they are supposed to be entirely benign to other electronics, and one would hope that critical equipment would be adequately shielded," writes The Register's Bill Ray.

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