A new pen design

[edstreet]

http://www.medtronic.com/content/dam/medtronic-com-m/mdt/documents/emc_guide.pdf



If you don't want to read the guide, the manufacturer recommends to keep small household magnets at least 6" away from the device. Here is why:



"There is a small magnetically activated switch built into the electronics of pacemakers and implantable defibrillators. This internal switch is designed to close when a magnet of enough strength is placed over it. When the internal switch is closed in the pacemaker, the pacemaker paces the heart at a continuous preset rate (which could be different than the rate the doctor programmed). When the internal switch is closed in an implantable defibrillator, it prevents it from delivering treatment therapies."



It's not pseudoscience. It's very real. Part of my job is worrying about stuff like this. A wise pencrafter that sells pens with magnetic caps would make clear that the pen contains a magnet. It may or may not be a powerful enough magnet to close the switch, but why risk non-disclosure.



Anybody that wants to know what credentials I have that would carry any weight in supporting my answer can send a PM. I didn't rely a result from a simple Google search.



Facts matter; details are important.

Ok Brad you are indeed 100% correct, facts matter. Can you show scientific proof, read gauss levels of the zen magnet that shows they are greater than 10 gauss?

I to read the same page as you did early on and the info given is very specific on a good number of items, i.e. Chainsaws but grossly vague on small magnets. The vagueness is related to the vast diverse range of home magnets yet we are discussing one very specific magnet also this specific magnet is very weak. Which this info should be easy to obtain and certify that it is "dangerous".

It should be a fairly easy test to determine the gauss levels with the meter, sadly i do not have said meter but from your post I'm assuming that you do.

 

[edstreet]

Also for the record pseudoscience.

Non verified info that is passed as plausible with out verification is pseudoscience.

 

[Brian G]

My name is Brian, not Brad. If you're that sloppy to details that you get that wrong, you are not worthy of more of my time.

Yes, i can show studies. They exist for low power magnets used in jewelry, toys, pendants and the like. You can find them yourself. I'm not playing your game of posting stuff for you to crap on. Your opinion is wrong on this. That is your choice.

 

[edstreet]

Sorry am on my mobile and auto correct often fubar things greatly.

 

[Smitty37]

A manufacturer issuing warnings about the use of magnetic devices in close proximity to pacemakers they manufacture, sell and service is not pseudoscience nor is it science at all.

As a matter of interest regarding scientific method. Since the starting point has to be that proximity of magnet to device is a variable depending on the design of the pacemaker, I think it would be very difficult and quite impractical to design a scientific test to determine exactly how close proximity every possible strength magnet could reach with every single pacemaker or defibrillator manufactured without causing some failure or disruption of operation.

Even if you completed the experiment on one device, there is reason to believe that the results would not apply to devices designed by another company.

 

[Smitty37]

Also for the record pseudoscience.

Non verified info that is passed as plausible with out verification is pseudoscience.

Ed, that is a very long entry in Wikipedia trying to explain pseudoscience and after you read the initial definition you find it loaded with contradictory ideas. In fact, some contributors seem to think the word pseudoscience should be dropped altogether.

 

[edstreet]

Funny you should say that. Some have said the exact same thing regarding his thread to. Yet here we are.

 

[Smitty37]

Funny you should say that. Some have said the exact same thing regarding his thread to. Yet here we are.

I started to read the whole article but to be honest gave up on it when they got into some areas where they are calling what I already think of as unscientific "real" science. This forum would not allow mentioning of what they are.

 

[Smitty37]

There is the scientific method which is well defined and there is observation. Both can provide useful information but much observation can never be subjected to strict scientific method. I think that's why Ernest Rutherford a Nobel Prize winning Nuclear Physicist is quoted as having said...All science is either physics or stamp collecting.