Draft American National Standard Recommended Practice For An On Site Ad Hoc Test Method For Estimating Electromagnetic Immunity Of Medical Devices To Radiated Radio Frequency Rf Emissions From Rf Transmitters PDF Download

Abstract: A guide to evaluating electromagnetic immunity of medical devices against radiated radio-frequency (RF) emissions from common RF transmitters is provided in this recommended practice (e.g., two-way radios; walkie-talkies; mobile phones; wireless-enabled tablets, e-readers, laptop computers, and similar devices; RFID readers; networked mp3 players; two-way pagers; and wireless personal digital assistants [PDAs]). A comprehensive test or a guarantee is not provided by this protocol but, instead, a basic evaluation is given that can help identify medical devices that might be particularly vulnerable to interference from common RF transmitters. Existing or newly purchased medical devices can be evaluated by this ad hoc test protocol or the protocol can be implemented for prepurchase evaluation. This recommended practice applies to medical devices used in health-care facilities but can also be adapted to medical devices in home health-care or mobile health-care settings. It does not apply to implantable medical devices (e.g., pacemakers and defibrillators), transport environments such as ambulances and helicopters, or RF transmitters rated at more than 8 W of output power. Testing with transmitters greater than 8 W in health-care facilities is not recommended because of possible adverse effects on critical-care medical devices that are in use in nearby areas of the facility. Finally, in-band RF interference where the fundamental frequency of an RF transmitter overlaps with frequencies used by a hospital wireless network or monitoring or other medical device wireless links is not addressed by this recommended practice. Keywords: ad hoc testing, American National Standard, ANSI C63.18, electromagnetic compatibility, electromagnetic immunity, electromagnetic interference, EMC, EMI, health-care facilities, in situ testing, medical devices, on-site testing, portable radio frequency transmitters, test method, test procedure, wireless.