Study of Electromagnetic Compatibility in Hospital Environments

Abstract

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