Could this be the new iPacemaker?
In May of last year, a 17-year-old high school student presented a study to a meeting of heart specialists, detailing the effects of iPods on 100 patients with pacemakers. (Read about it here, courtesy of Engadget.) It was found that electrical interference was detected from iPods when held close to a person’s chest half the time.
But in a new study by an FDA researcher, the effects of the electrical interference of an iPod on a pacemaker are said to be virtually nil, contradicting two previous studies (that of the 17-year-old high school student, and another) that came to different conclusions.
In an exclusive for TNC, we contacted an Apple employee and asked about these developments.
“Obviously there were concerns within [Apple] that our product might be harmful to some people in the population who rely on pacemakers to survive,” said the employee, who wishes to remain nameless. “But there were rumors that suggested a new type of iPod might be designed for the pacemaker market.”
The “iPacemaker”, as it has been so-called in industry speculation, was thought to be currently in development, although there has yet to have been confirmation from sources inside Apple.
Now, with this new FDA study coming to light, industry experts are starting to doubt if there ever was an iPacemaker project.
“We all thought that it would be a great new market for [Apple],” said John Patrin at a technology conference yesterday. “But with this new study purportedly proving that the iPod is safe, they still haven’t revealed any details. If they were going to make an announcement, today would have been ideal.”
In the past, Apple has found it difficult to break into the older market because, as one marketer surmised, “they haven’t found a proper entry point for the iPod product.”
Speculation suggested that the iPacemaker was to be powered by a groundbreaking new technique that involved harvesting slight amounts of electricity from nerve signals close to the heart, a breakthrough that could have huge implications for certain medical procedures.
Another feature was said to be a new layout for the control of the iPacemaker. “For instance, if you wanted to scroll through your music list, you would just have to circle your finger around your left nipple,” said Patrin. “The right nipple would be for volume, while music could be uploaded and downloaded via a wireless connection.”
No one knows how the sound would reach the user’s ears, however, although some have suggested a similar method to that used for patients with Parkinson’s disease – an internal wire would run from the iPacemaker directly to the ear drum. In addition, only the user would be able to hear the music – a move that the Public Transport Association is enthusiastic about.
One thing is for sure – if Apple denies these rumors, a whole generation could once again be excluded from advances in modern technology, as has happened so many times in the past.
[via Reuters and Engadget]
