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For any type of transportation system, traffic safety is a global concerned issue that attracts the most attentions. Within the U.S only, millions of crashes happen every year, leaving tons of deaths and tremendous economic losses. Therefore, considerable efforts from research institutes, governments, and industry have been undertaken to reduce or even eliminate traffic accidents. Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) has been developed to enhance traffic safety by using Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) or Vehicle-to-Roadside (V2R) communications. ITS allows a vehicles that equipped with wireless communication devices to exchange information with its neighbors or roadside data centers. That is to say, vehicles are no longer isolated, but can make up Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs), a special form of Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs), which allow inter-vehicle communications. VANETs make "smart vehicle", which is able to avoid traffic accident spontaneously,

Background: The effect of transient electromagnetic fields on the function of pacemakers is not well-evaluated. There is a lack of effective methods for clinicians to reduce electromagnetic susceptibility (EMS) during implantation of pacemakers. This study aimed to evaluate whether a novel method of handling the excess leads in the pocket can lower the EMS of pacemakers and consequently reduce the effect of electromagnetic interference caused by transient electromagnetic fields on pacemakers.Methods: An in vitro chest model was established to simulate the clinical condition of dual-chamber pacemaker implantation. Three different intertwining patterns of excess leads were examined: parallel, twisted once, and multiple twisted-pair. Oscillated currents were injected into a copper electrical wire set horizontally above the model to create a radiated magnetic field to simulate the transient daily electromagnetic exposure of pacemakers. The electromagnetic induction of current was measured. The occurrence of EMS-related adverse events was evaluated when the induced pulsed voltage was applied.Results: Transient electromagnetic fields can induce electromagnetic noise in the pacing loop and inhibit the release of pacing pulses. The multiple twisted-pair intertwining pattern of excess leads was associated with a lower induced voltage amplitude than both the parallel and once-twisted patterns (P < 0.001). Even once twisted could significantly reduce induced voltage amplitude compared to not twisted (P < 0.001). A lower incidence of pacing inhibition was also observed in the multiple twisted-pair group than in the other two groups (P < 0.001).Conclusions: Transient electromagnetic fields can cause pacing inhibition. Twisting the excess leads for multiple turns in the pocket is an effective method to reduce the EMS of the dual-chamber pacemaker.

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This paper describes the design and implementation of an in-body electromagnetic sensor for patients with implanted pacemakers. The sensor can either be mounted on myocardial tissue and monitor the electrocardiography (ECG) with contact electrodes or implanted under the skin and monitor the ECG with coaxial leads. A 16-bit high-resolution analog front-end (AFE) and an energy-efficient 32-bit CPU are used for instantaneous ECG recording. Wireless data transmission between the sensor and clinician’s computer is achieved by an embedded low-power Bluetooth transmitter. In order to automatically recognize the working status of the pacemaker and alarm the episodes of arrhythmias caused by pacemaker malfunctions, pacing mode classification and fault diagnosis on the recorded ECG were achieved based on an AI algorithm, i.e., a resource allocation network (RAN). A prototype of the sensor was implemented on a human torso, and the in vitro test results prove that the sensor can work properly for the 1-4-meter transmission range.