Study of Electromagnetic Compatibility in Hospital Environments

Abstract

This\rpaper presents a study on the effects of radiation from electronic equipment in\rhospitals. This study was performed in Argentinean, Colombian and Spanish\rhospitals. The work consists of two parts: a survey to determine the hospital\rpersonnel’s knowledge of the problem and a technical part consisting of a\rmeasurements campaign to determine the levels of radiated electrical and\rmagnetic fields in several hospitals due to the presence of electromagnetic\rinterferences, such as the use of mobile phones. The study of this problem has\rbeen of special interest in countries such as the USA and Canada, and this\rpaper attempts to convey the necessity of creating regulations that can be\rapplied to the hospitals of the countries analyzed. More than fifty hospitals\rwere studied in these three countries, considering the following aspects: the\rhospital personnel’s awareness of the problem, whether the hospitals have\rperformed previous studies of this type, the appearance of problems in medical\requipment due to this interference, the origin of the interference, and the\rfailures that have appeared in computers due to electromagnetic interference.\rThe results show that, most hospitals have a lack of knowledge regarding this\rissue and that field levels above those allowed by international regulations\rare present. Therefore, a regulation must be established to avoid the problem.