Dear NMR Managers,
Thank you very much Andrew ,Erica, Jeffrey, Jonathan, Joseph, Nancy, Rajan,
Ryan, Steven, and Torbjorn for your comments regarding my question (included
below).
The short answer is: it is possible to do this work with a pacemaker but...
Basically all of you recommended to strictly follow device manufacturer's
and doctor's instructions. There are various types of those pacemakers and
the specific safety guidelines may be different. Generally, like with most
electronic devices, the patient should avoid magnetic fields above 5 G. For
all modern, actively-shielded, NMR magnets this should not be too difficult
(for our magnets it is practically within the radius of antivib legs). However,
for older models (probably more than 20-25 years old) it may be tricky.
Now my personal update:
The pacemaker, they installed for my heart 4 months ago is an "MR Conditional
System" which (I believe) means that I can be inserted into the MRI magnet
(about 1.5 T or even higher) after taking certain precautions (temporally
disabling some functions). My doctor also told me that exposing my pacemaker
to >5G field may cause it to start "switching modes" which would not instantly
kill me but would be "bad".
I am still employed as NMR Facility Manager and so far I am alive. My Department
Chair has assigned part time (3 hours/week) NMR TA who takes care of weekly
nitrogen fills and helps with all tasks involving approaching the magnets like
probe change, manual tuning, fixing minor sample changer issues etc. He also
helps with helium fills - I am with him in the lab and operate dewar valves
but he performs all magnet/transfer-line operations.
This is just our solution for this problem. Of course, I don't recommend it
for anyone without consultation with the specialists. The best recommendation
would be not to have heart issues that require a pacemaker. :)
Thanks again and stay healthy (including your heart) and safe!
Piotr
> From: Dobrowolski, Piotr <Piotr.Dobrowolski_at_ttu.edu>
> Sent: Friday, March 12, 2021 10:08 AM
> To: ammrl_at_ammrl.org
> Subject: AMMRL: Pacemaker for NMR Manager
Dear NMR Managers,
Is it possible to work as an academic NMR Lab Manger with a heart pacemaker
installed? I understand the major concern would be strong magnetic fields.
I was told that of course 5 Gauss or above should be considered dangerous.
I wonder if it is possible to continue this work with help of a TA who would
take care of cryogen fills and other magnet/probe maintenance? If you have
any personal experience related to my questions, please contact me directly.
Thank you very much,
Piotr
Piotr Dobrowolski, Ph.D.
Sr. Research Associate - NMR Facility Manager
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Texas Tech University
Chemistry Bldg Room 051
1204 Boston Ave, Lubbock, TX 79409,
Telephone: (806) 834-7706
Email: piotr.dobrowolski_at_ttu.edu<mailto:piotr.dobrowolski_at_ttu.edu>
Received on Thu Sep 02 2021 - 06:39:38 MST