EMI Education—A Little Knowledge

摘要

At AAMI's Annual Conference this year, a colleague, fresh out of a wireless session, approached me saying that he had the solution for all our electromagnetic interference (EMI) issues. When a new type of device comes in, subject it to the following test: Hold a cell phone along the X, Y, and Z axes. If nothing happens, then record that model as not susceptible to EMI in a national database.nnThis approach, of course, has its limitations, but is indicative of an unfortunate trend I've been seeing recently regarding wireless/radio frequency (RF)/EMI issues. Some people are after simple fixes; others see it as a no-win situation. Biomeds, especially those who have had minimal exposure to wireless issues, are lacking clear guidance on how to deal with EMI and related problems.nnI started life working in RF as an electronics technician in the U.S. Coast Guard 30 years ago, and pursued it as a sideline for several years after. Eventually, I migrated into biomedical engineering. As I've returned to wireless issues in this field, I found that biomedical engineering programs at all levels don't offer RF education. This is not a judgment; something had to give to allow for the life sciences required for those programs. But biomeds must pick up that knowledge somewhere to succeed in their jobs.nnThe telemetry issues of a few years back raised awareness of wireless issues (a little), but it is the tip of the iceberg. AAMI and other organizations have provided sessions at their conferences on the subject. At this point, though, that education seems to fall into two camps; either “doom and gloom” or “just do what I say and it'll be fine.” What's the difference, and how can we move past it and provide a more solid and consistent education for biomeds?