The intensity of extremely low frequency electromagnetic field by target temperature of MEGAWARMERⓇ patient temperature management system
Abstract
Background: Extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) emitted by electronic devices is associated with various biological effects on the human body. MEGAWARMERⓇ patient temperature management system (PTMS) is widely used for the patient temperature management in anesthesia and critical care. We investigated the intensity of ELF-EMF according to the distance and target temperature of MEGAWARMERⓇ PTMS to find the distance allowing minimized exposure to ELF-EMF.
Methodology: This study was a prospective experimental study. Target temperature was set at 31℃, 36℃ and 41℃. After setting each target temperature, the intensity of ELF-EMF was measured 300 times during 10 min at interval of 2 sec, at distances of 15, 30, and 45 cm from the MEGAWARMERⓇ PTMS, respectively. Nine measurement groups from 3 different target temperatures and 3 different distances resulted in 2700 data. Including background EMF intensity with the MEGAWARMERⓇ PTMS also turned off, total 3000 data in 10 groups were collected.
Results: At the distance of 15 cm from the MEGAWARMERⓇ PTMS, mean values of ELF-EMF were 4.6721 milligauss (mG), where 1 G is equivalent to 10⁻⁴ Tesla (T) (or 1 mG = 0.1 μT) at 31℃, 4.2852 mG at 36℃, and 3.9935 mG at 41℃. At the distance of 30 cm, mean values of ELF-EMF were 2.0948 mG at 31℃, 2.0790 mG at 36℃, and 2.0633 mG at 41℃. At the distances of 15 cm and 30 cm, the lower target temperature showed statistically significantly higher mean values of ELF-EMF (p < 0.05). In all three target temperatures, longer distance made statistically significantly lower mean value of ELF-EMF (p < 0.05).
Conclusions: The mean intensity of ELF-EMF from the MEGAWARMERⓇ Patient Temperature Management at the distance of 15 cm and 30 cm exceeded 2 mG recommended by Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees guideline.
Key words: Extremely low frequency electromagnetic field; Temperature management; Intensive care unit
Abbreviations: ELF-EMF– Extremely Low Frequency ElectroMagnetic Field; PRMS – Patient Temperature Management System; mG – milligauss
Citation: Kim SH, Park YH, Lee H, Lee SE, Park JH, Lee KH, Kim YH. The intensity of extremely low frequency electromagnetic field by target temperature of MEGAWARMERⓇ patient temperature management system. Anaesth. pain intensive care 2021;25(6):741-745;
Received: August 11, 2021, Reviewed: September 30, 2021, Accepted: October 6, 2021
