Hi Everyone,
May be this was discussed on this forum before. I am curious to know the impact the new airport fully body scanners may have on ICDs. I am sort of concerned. I'll be traveling shortly and wanted to be sure. Thanks.
Bob

 

 

As I am due to fly out of Manchester(uk) airport in Sept and have a St Jude pm I e-mailed them last week and asked if it was safe to go through the new body scanners. This is their reply;
Our implantable pulse generators are designed to meet the requirements in applicable international standards.
St JUde medical has not performed any official testing of the product that u mention. However, we do not anticipate any interference btween body scanners that are used at airports and St Jude medical pacemakers. We are aware of 2 types of scanners, one uses some kind of microwaves that only penetrate fabrics but not the skin, the 2nd is based on an X ray. We do not anticipate that either of these 2 types will have any effect on pacemakers.

I don't know if an ICD differs radically from a pm or whether the same would apply.If you are still concerned I would try e-mailing them to clarify the matter.
Best wishes Jan

 

I was told by the airport NOT to go through it. (4 different airports) They just opened a small area of their "fence" & had me go through there for the full body pat down. LOL
I have a PM though.
Safe travels!
Most airlines have web sites & maybe you could check there & email them?

 

This is what one "expert' has to say about the full body scanners and their effects on pacemakers.

"People with medical implants such as pacemakers should also avoid electromagnetic pulse generating body scanners as they can significantly alter the waveform of the pacemaker pulse."

My thought is that if a person with a pacemaker is uneasy about going through a full-body scanner then they should avoid it by getting a manual check.

 

Medtronic advised me that this was still a new technology, and to continue using a manual check regardless of what TSA agents claimed of the new technology's safety.

 

I have a friend who travels all the time and he doesn't worry about these things. He never goes through any body scanner, whether he can or not. He simply shows the card, and tells them that he can go for a strip search if they wish (they never do), and then he gets on his plane. I think that's what the card is for. Why go through the scanner and take any chances at all?

 

Bob-

The bottom line is always to avoid electromagnetic fields (big magnets) as thy do affect the PPM/ICDs.

If in doubt, avoid it...of course the Earth has a pretty bid magnetic field too....hmmmm.

Good Luck-
Dr JV.

 

A full body scanner is totally different from a metal detector. All airports have metal detectors (which we need to avoid) but only a dozen or so have the full body scanners, which work on xray. The airport I fly out of when I visit my parents got one last summer and I have gone through it with no problems and TSA states it's safe for pacemakers.

They are still optional in the US, you have the option of going through the traditional metal detectors or having a pat down. It is fairly new and the controversy with them is not safety but privacy, do a google image search and decide for yourself if you want to do it. I raised my eyebrows a bit the first time I saw the pictures they generate but decided i'll live with it because it's so fast to get through.

 

Thank you all wonderful people who wrote in.

What I have is an ICD (defibrillator) with 3 lead wires. Wondering if there is a huge difference between this type of ICDs and Pacemakers, particularly when it comes to full body scanners.

Thanks
Bob

 

Since I had my first PM back in 1984 (I am on my 4th) I have never been through a metal detector. I always either show the card or tell them that I have a PM. I always get the pat down but they never made me go through one if I didn't want to.

Becky

 

pm and icd are the same as far as traveling is concerned- both are a hunk of titanium that will make a metal detector beep and show up as a pretty glow in the body scanners. Your icd glow will be bigger than my pm glow :o)

 

I have opted for the past 6 months not to go through any scanner...until this past weekend flying out of Minneapolis International where they forced me to go thru the full body scanner. While I'm not terribly worried...I am very angry that they made me go thru even though I requested not. I fly several times a month and this was the first negative experience I've had. Everyone else has been completely understanding of the precautions I chose to take when it comes to my device and health. The pat downs take a matter of minutes and I'd rather safe than sorry especially before I go jet off somewhere new where I won't have access to my doctors and medical team.

 

The last time I had to fly was 2010 and I swore it WOULD be the last until TSA changed. I have to travel from Virginia to Salt Lake City in 2013 and I'll drive rather than fly. If more folks refused to put up with our Governments sham excuse for airport security they would change.

As a retired law enforcement officer and someone who has worked in intel, the TSA is next to worthless. Consider this, they have not stopped one terrorist attack on an airline!

Stop flying, change things.