‘Do Electric Cars Interfere With Pacemakers and Defibrillators?’
In the recent ‘Annals of Internal Medicine’ concludes ’ This study suggests that electric cars do not cause problems for patients’ CIEDs.’
http://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2679358/do-electric-cars-interfere-pacemakers-defibrillators
I know Tesla had actually done extensive testing on that before their first EV rolled off the assembly line. GM also did extensive testing on their EV-1.
So I’m not surprised of the findings.
I don’t know that the study means that much. It states that it was a small sample size, that it “cannot definitely establish”, and uses the word “suggests”.
About 3 months ago I went through a cardiac incident that ended up in the ER with no pulse, no respiration, and shutdown of the renal system. I woke up 2 days later in the ICU with a nurse asking me if I knew why I was there. Nope. “Well, you were done for but they brought you back and you’re now the owner of a new Pacemaker” she says.
The book I was given on the Pacemaker says to avoid a couple of pages worth of potential dangers from cell phones to high energy automotive applications. If the people who manufacture the units say to avoid certain things then i take them at their word. I’ve even been lectured not to carry my cell phone in my left side shirt pocket.
I also own 2 electric guitars, 2 electric basses, and one homemade 3 string amplified cigar box guitar. I’ve noticed a few times which picking them up and turning on the ampllfier that my heart/Pacemaker starts tingling to the point of being irritating. Turn the amp off; problem goes away. Turn amp on; problem returns. The Humbucker pickup in the cigar box guitar really has the strongest effect on it.
Oh well,… 
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It’s kind of a humorous summary from the perspective of someone familiar with electronics and even more so the regulatory compliance testing required to field a device of that nature. Forget 10,000 ft summary, think of planetary scale…
A study size of 108 is large enough to draw broad conclusions, and that seems to be exactly what they did. I think they made appropriate disclosures concerning that and using words like “suggest” is common in scientific papers. This encourages more people to study the issue and find out if there are any issues that did not come out in this test, or it might strengthen the conclusions.
You might try a wireless connection to the amp, or an isolation transformer between the amp and the guitar pickup.
Make sure the amp is well shielded, line the inside of the cabinet with tinfoil and make sure you don’t have a hot chassis, check to make sure your outlets have the neutral on the correct side.
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It’s not the amplifier that’s doing it. It’s the pickups in the guitars which magnetize and pick up the string vibrations. I can unplug the guitar, sit near the amp even when on, and nothing happens.
The Pacemaker book says to not stand too close to a running car engine. electric motors, or other magnetic fields so I think I’ll err on the side of caution and follow the book. Twice in the last 10 months I’ve gone belly-up leading to open heart surgeries so a third time might be the end of my luck.
Take care of yourself. Yeah I would be a little cautious regardless of what the study said. After all we are still arguing lots of other stuff where there have been numerous studies over the years.
The pickups on an electric guitar are magnetized whether or not the amp is plugged in. They have permanent magnets in them. When you play the guitar, the pickups generate a voltage even when no amp is connected. The amp just “listens” to that voltage and amplifies it.
Piezoelectric pickups used in amplified acoustic guitars also generate a voltage whether or not an amp is plugged in.
I suggest trying a battery powered amp or someone else’s amp and seeing if the problem still exists. If that cures it, you can use a battery powered wireless link to your amp, like a lot of performers use today so they don’t have to trip over the guitar cord on stage.
I have to respectfully disagree about guitar pickups. True in some cases; not so true in others. The Humbucker in the cigar box guitar is the one that causes the problem and it is only magnetized with the amp on.
I’ve cut some pickups open that were not magnetic unless powered on. I’ve also wound some of my own pickups by using copper wire from fuel pump relays wound over old Harley Davidson long rod bearings.
I’m actually in the process of winding a non-magnetic one now for an amplified one string Diddly Bo.
The pickups on my Fender Telecaster are also not magnetized unless the amp is on. Both basses have permanent magnet pickups. Maybe I just need to stick with my acoustic to be safe… 
At this point the cardiologist says I’m his “Miracle Baby”…
And of course being a mechanic I guess I’m going to have to not stand too close to a running engine…
Many years ago a mechanic in OK City who had a Pacemaker and who wore a heavy ring got knocked down where an errant spark from a bad plug wire jumped to the ring… Luckily he survived the incident after a ride to the hospital in an ambulance.
My wife’s Gibson electric guitar’s double pole “humbucker” pickups will grab a pocket knife blade with the guitar unplugged and I put a sensitive dc digital voltmeter across the guitar cable plug contacts to see if there was a DC bias voltage to magnetize the pickups from her Fender Frontman 10G amp and the result was zero, or more specifically .0000 volts.
Maybe you could try putting some magnetic shielding on the back of the guitar body, a thin piece of magnetic sheet metal.
Pretty tough to prove a negative with any scientific data, no matter the size of the study. All I can offer is one anecdotal data point - I have an implanted defibrillator/pacemaker and have charged and ridden in two Tesla Ss, an X, and a 3. So far, no noticeable effect.
Well this was interesting. I swung by HF and picked up one of those nail sweepers for $10 to use with a small shingling job next spring. I was surprised to see the warning on it to consult your doctor first before using if you have a pacemaker since a magnetic field can affect its operation. Who woulda thought. Maybe just covering themselves, I dunno because they also said to wear goggles.
I have a thing for nails in tires, not only for the expense but also the hassle. The reviews said the handle breaks right away but for ten bucks it doesn’t seem all that flimsy to me if you are a little careful.