Dutch researchers find that the use of radio frequency identification devices (RFID) in hospitals can interfere with the functioning of certain lifesaving equipment.

The Journal of the American Medical Association published a report by Dutch researchers with findings that radio frequency wireless systems send out radio waves that can interfere with equipment like respirators, external pacemakers and kidney dialysis machines.

The devices involve tiny tags that are used to track all types of products. The use of RFIDs are on the rise because they help identify patients and reveal the location of equipment.

The latest research, conducted at Vrije University in Amsterdam, tested the effect of holding one active (with a battery and able to transmit information continuously) and one passive (powered by the electromagnetic field of the reader) device by moving it around the room while researchers assessed electromagnetic interference (EMI) on the medical devices.

The researchers tested 41 medical devices, including ventilators, syringe pumps, dialysis machines and pacemakers. They conducted 123 EMI tests, and 34 EMI incidents were recorded.

Twenty two incidents were considered hazardous, in that the RFID devices caused a mechanical ventilator to turn off or external pacemakers malfunction. Two incidents included an inaccurate blood pressure reading or an alarm wrongly going off that might divert attention from the patient.

The passive signal resulted in a higher number of total incidents (26 out of 41, or 63 percent), as well as more hazardous incidents (17). Some hazardous incidents occurred when the RFID was more than ten inches away.

Researchers suggested that the implementation of RFID in the ICU and other similar health care environments should require on-site EMI tests in addition to updated international standards.