WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, MATTHEW DOWNEY
Children suffering from hydrocephalus, the abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain, should be careful when using Apple’s popular tablet, the iPad 2: if held within 2 inches of the magnetically programmable shunt devices often used to treat the disorder, the computer’s magnets can change its settings, causing the shunt to malfunction, according to a study published in the August 2012 issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics.
The authors initiated the study after having issues with a programmable shunt in a four-month-old girl patient who received a shunt with a magnetically programmable valve to regulate the flow of CSF. After the girl’s mother used an iPad 2 while holding her daughter, the doctors found that the patient’s shunt valve settings had been ...
