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 "The potential for interference between a diabetes device and an
avalanche beacon (in search mode) is increased if both devices are
held in close proximity and reduced if they are separated," said
lead author Dr. Steven Miller, a researcher at North Shore Hospital
in Auckland, New Zealand.
So-called avalanche beacons both transmit and receive signals that
can be used to locate and rescue a person buried under the snow by
an avalanche. In a typical scenario, companions who escape being
buried can use their transceivers to start searching immediately for
the beacon signal of someone who is missing.
Previous research has shown that the transceiver searching for a
signal from another beacon can be rendered less effective by
interference from cell phones, MP3 players and other electronic
devices, Miller and colleagues note in Wilderness and Environmental
Medicine. The devices are not themselves affected by the avalanche
beacons, though.
People with type 1 diabetes need continual monitoring and
adjustments to maintain an ideal balance of insulin and glucose in
their blood. Implanted insulin pumps and glucose monitors can
wirelessly transmit information to each other to keep blood glucose
under control for weeks at a time.
For the current study, researchers examined how well two commonly
used avalanche beacon-transceivers could detect signals in an open
field. Then they explored whether placing personal electronic
devices such as mobile phones and two-way radios, as well as insulin
pumps and blood sugar monitors for diabetes, nearby would limit the
distance at which the receiver could detect another beacon’s signal.
They found that the greatest distance at which the transceiver could
accurately detect the location of a transmitting beacon was 30
meters (about 100 feet), but the search range was reduced to just 5
meters (16 feet) when the beacon was placed within 30 centimeters
(about 12 inches) of an iPhone 4, an iPhone 5 or an insulin pump,
the Animas Vibe.
One type of blood sugar monitor, the Dexcom G4 rtCGMS, didn't appear
to interfere at all with the transceiver’s ability to detect a
signal. And none of the devices interfered with the transmitting
beacon’s ability to send its signal.
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The reduction in the searching beacon’s range of detection from 30
meters to 5 meters is significant, and has the potential to delay
the rescue of a buried avalanche victim, the researchers write.
"I suggest therefore that any electronic device – including an
insulin pump or a continuous glucose monitor, but also a MP3, cell
phone, radio, etc – is kept as far away as possible from the
avalanche beacon," Miller said in an email.
To minimize the risk of signal interference, people might wear the
avalanche beacon on an upper arm and then place a diabetes device
lower on the body, said Dr. Lutz Heinemann, a partner and scientific
consultant at Profil Institute for Clinical Research in Neuss,
Germany.
"To my knowledge, many patients with diabetes (mainly type 1) do
such hiking trips and I have not heard about any issues," Heinemann,
who wasn't involved in the study, said by email. "I don't have data
on hand about how many patients carry an avalanche beacon while
hiking, but this sounds like not too common a combination."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1cdO1tc
Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, online March 13, 2015.
(This version of the story has been refiled to correct byline).
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
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