Effect of electric and magnetic fields on operation of insulin pumps under 400 kV power lines

Abstract

The aim was to study the operation of insulin pumps under a 400 kV transmission line (two test places) and possible disturbances that the lines could have caused. Three different insulin pumps were attached one at a time to the subject’s clothes. The diabetes nurse started the pumps before the tests to ensure the correct settings were being utilized. After walking under the power lines when meters were running, she tested if the meters had operated properly. At the first test site (A), the electric field was 5.0–5.1 kV/m and the magnetic field 8.6–10.9 μT, and in the second test place (B), the fields were 7.7–8.5 kV/m and 5.7–9.2 μT. The pumps worked perfectly: no disruption was detected in the flow, display or menu movement, and the events were registered correctly. Only the remote control, which worked well before and after the test, could not reliably receive additional doses. However, the functions of the insulin pump are not dependent on the functionality of the remote control device, so the study suggests that insulin pump users can move safely under the power lines.