Apple iPad 2 and Shunts
Recently-released information from Medtronic Neurosurgery has resulted in questions from families regarding safe use of the Apple iPad 2 among children with the Strata valve shunt due the iPad 2's magnetic strength. Per Medtronic, the iPad 2 has potential to affect the Strata valve only if the magnetic field is "placed directly adjacent to the implant location" of the valve. Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare's neurosurgery team wants to assure parents and schools that children with an implanted Strata valve can continue to safely use the iPad 2 without risk of shunt complications. A distance of six inches between an iPad 2 and a child's Strata valve is recommended to ensure the magnetic field does not disrupt the shunt's function. Gillette believes the academic and developmental benefits of using an iPad 2 outweigh any perceived risk, and considers recommendations that children remain several feet away from the iPad 2 to be excessive.
Recently-released information from Medtronic Neurosurgery has resulted in questions from families regarding safe use of the Apple iPad 2 among children with the Strata valve shunt due the iPad 2's magnetic strength. Per Medtronic, the iPad 2 has potential to affect the Strata valve only if the magnetic field is "placed directly adjacent to the implant location" of the valve. Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare's neurosurgery team wants to assure parents and schools that children with an implanted Strata valve can continue to safely use the iPad 2 without risk of shunt complications. A distance of six inches between an iPad 2 and a child's Strata valve is recommended to ensure the magnetic field does not disrupt the shunt's function. Gillette believes the academic and developmental benefits of using an iPad 2 outweigh any perceived risk, and considers recommendations that children remain several feet away from the iPad 2 to be excessive.