14 Year Old Finds iPad Smart Cover Magnets Could Shut Off Implanted Defibrillators

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A 14 year old student who was working on a science project for her school accidentally made a discovery that could have possible side effects for anyone who may have an Implanted Defibrillator and use an iPad Smartcover.

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The student, by the name of Gianna Chien, was entered in a science project contest for her school. While the project did not win first place, she will be presenting her findings to 8,000 doctors at a meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society in Denver, reports Bloomberg News.

“The research offers a valuable warning for people with implanted defibrillators, which deliver an electric shock to restart a stopped heart, said John Day, head of heart-rhythm services at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah, and chairman of the panel that reviews scientific papers to be presented at the Denver meeting.

If a person falls asleep with the iPad2 on the chest, the magnets in the cover can “accidentally turn off” the heart device, said Chien, a high school freshman in Stockton, California, whose father is a doctor. “I definitely think people should be aware. That’s why I’m presenting the study.”

While it is a known fact that implanted defibrillators can be shut off as a means of safety for a patient, the magnet(s) is/are usually stronger then a normal consumer magnet. But as Chien’s science project showed, that about 30% of patients who put an iPad (with a Smartcover connected to it) and held it close to their chest, that the device did turn off. While most defibrillators will turn on when the device was taken away, some need to be turned on manually, thereby providing a possible medical emergency.