Interference of electrocardiographic recordings by a mobile telephone

Abstract

The ownership of mobile telephones is now almost universal amongst the teenage population of the United Kingdom. Such telephones are a potential source of electromagnetic interference to medical equipment. We describe a case of troublesome interference with an electrocardiogram recording in a teenage patient whose mobile telephone was left switched on during a visit to hospital. This is likely to be a common reason for poor quality electrocardiographic recordings. © 2007 Cambridge University Press.