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Tests on a variety of iPods by the US Food and Drug Administration show they do not produce enough of an electromagnetic field to affect pacemakers.

FDA researcher Howard Bassen and colleagues set up a complex experiment using a saline-filled bag to simulate the human body and a coil sensor designed to pick up electromagnetic emissions.

They measured the magnetic fields produced by four different iPod models: a fourth-generation iPod, iPod with video, iPod nano and iPod shuffle. They also measured the voltages delivered to the inside of the pacemaker by

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the magnetic fields from the iPods.

All their measurements indicated the iPods could not affect cardiac pacemakers, they report in the journal BioMedical Engineering OnLine.

"We measured magnetic field emissions with a 3-coil sensor placed within 1 cm of the surface of the player. Highly localised fields were observed (only existing in a one square cm area)," they write.

"Based on the observations of our in-vitro study we conclude that no interference effects can occur in pacemakers exposed to the iPods we tested."

Two reports had suggested otherwise. Last year cardiologists operated an iPod during a patient's examination, and reported in the journal Heart Rhythm that they had seen interference with the pacemaker.

And last May, a study presented by a 17-year-old high school student to the Heart Rhythm Society annual meeting in Denver caused a stir when he said he detected electrical interference when the iPod was held 2 inches from a patient's chest for 5 to 10 seconds.

However, the FDA research suggests it's perfectly safe for heart patients to go back to their music. A Gerry and the Pacemakers song, perhaps?