I asked Omnipod this question to Insulet and got gibberish twice. Has anyone had any experience being near an induction cook top while wearing an Omnipod?
John
Yes! Just got back from WV where we have a cabin with an induction stove top. I use Dash pods and have not noticed any impact to pods while cooking.
Thank you for the quick reply.
John
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I have an induction cooktop. Which I just LOVE, by the way. Zero issues with pump. I’ve used both Omnipod Dash and 5 with it, as well as T:slim X2 and now Mobi.
I never even knew it was a concern until a few years ago, after I’d already been pumping for a while. I’ve had the cooktop for a lot longer than pumps. Turns out someone at the JDRF (before the name change) made the magnetic connection and published an article warning against the dangers of it without doing their due diligence research, and the rumor spread. It has since been retracted. I did a site specific Google search of their website and the word “induction” doesn’t appear once now in this context, though the original article is referenced often elsewhere. But the rumor still persists…
The pump manuals all loudly proclaim statements like “this pump is designed to work around common household electromagnetic frequencies.” And induction cooktops fall well within that bandwidth. They are nowhere near the same intensity as the industrial danger zones that ARE a concern.
The O5 manual specifically says it’s safe but may cause brief communication issues. That’s a known Bluetooth issue, but doesn’t affect the safety of the pump itself:
The Controller and Pod are designed to withstand normal radio interference and electromagnetic fields, including airport security and cellular phones. However, as with all wireless communication technology, certain operating conditions can interrupt communication. For example, electric appliances such as microwave ovens and electric machinery located in manufacturing environments may cause interference. In most cases, interruptions are easy to resolve by moving to a new location (for more information, see “26.5. Pod Communication Issues – “Try Again”” on page 377).
The simple fact is that induction cooktop use non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation. It means the magnetic force that heats pots & pans requires direct contact and is too weak to travel through the surrounding air. At merely 5 cm from the burner, the magnetic field is practically undetectable. You do get more exposure if you try to use a non-compatible pan, one that’s significantly smaller than the burner (I know my heating area is actually much smaller than the painted on burner area), or if the pan is off-center on the burner. So yeah, exercise a little causation and don’t go putting your pump on the burner or lay on the cooktop while it’s on, but you’re fine just standing near it and cooking.
You also get less EMF exposure from these “scary” tools than already exists in our natural environment from the sun.
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I should have added that I have also used both Dexcom’s G6 and G7 around the same stove with no apparent problems connected with either. That’s not to say I haven’t had both go a bit goofy at times, but nothing I’d track back to being around the induction stove!
Somewhat different issue, but I had my Mobi training last week and the trainer said that you shouldn’t put your iPhone in the same pocket as your mobi because of possible interference from the phone’s magnet. That’s bonkers, right? If the pump were that fragile it wouldn’t have been released, I hope. Or am I wrong and this is something I should be concerned about?
So, I’m an Android user. Not real good with iPhone features. The phone I got (2nd Gen SE) doesn’t have magsafe, so I don’t have any firsthand knowledge here. I am kinda terrified of Magsafe chargers with Mobi, though, so there might be some valid concern here. It’s a completely different type of magnetism, though.
There’s absolutely no research on this with pumps, but it’s broadly advised not to use the magnetic wireless chargers intended for Magsafe phones with ANY other phone, because Magsafe phones are built specifically for it. Without intentional design, all that magnetic force in the chargers is gripping directly onto the phone’s internal charging coils, which simply aren’t built to be yanked on that way. The charging coils are more prone to break if you repeatedly use a magsafe charger on any other phone. Note this doesn’t apply to standard Qi wireless chargers, which is what the Tandem one is, just ones that that stick to your phone with magnets. While all this is talking about phones, I believe the same concern should be applied to Mobi because the wireless charging elements are pretty much identical to those used in phones.
I’m not worried about the magnets scrambling the electronics. I’m worried about breaking the only way to charge the pump. And honestly, it’s probably a pretty small concern… Until it actually happens, your battery dies, and you’re screwed. Better safe than sorry.
I don’t actually know if Magsafe phones have any mafnetic force themselves or are all the magnets on the charger side? (Think magnets stuck to your mostly inert fridge versus two magnets stuck to one another.) Does your pump stick to the iPhone? If you have to physically pull them apart, then I would keep them separate. If there’s no stickage, I wouldn’t worry about it.
Important Safety Information for Tandem Mobi System | Tandem Diabetes Care
DO NOT expose your pump to a magnet, such as pump cases that have a magnetic clasp or common products which include magnets such as cellphones and wireless charging cases. Exposure to magnets or products with magnets may interfere with the pump motor. Damage to the motor can impact the pump’s functionality.
iPhones with magsafe changing have a weak magnet in them. Not enough to stick to the fridge, enough to make me work to get it off the waffle iron. Physics was a long time ago but I think magnetic force is relative to the inverse square of distance. So they need to be kept apart but not like kids fighting in the back seat far apart.
This is totally off topic but talking about magnets reminds me of what my grandmother used to say about her hip replacement. She said she wouldn’t dare get close to magnets for fear of them sticking to her! 
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Actually, they slightly repel each other so there’s magnetic activity. Not huge but noticeable.
I guess this is part of a bigger, if possibly vague and unanswerable question. One of Tandem’s original selling points was that it had the safest delivery method. The Mobi, as far as I can tell, has the same delivery method as every other insulin pump — a motor pushing a plunger in tiny increments.
My trainer told me not to put my phone in the same pocket (because of magnets) and not to place the pump more than 12 inches above the infusion site (because of…wait for it… gravity). I nodded my head, but afterwards I’ve been thinking What the WHAT? The delivery method of this $5,000 piece of throughly researched FDA approved medical equipment can be thrown off by the magnet in the iPhone and, to repeat, the force of gravity on planet earth. (I mean if 12 inches is enough to throw this thing off what about turbulence on a plane, a roller coaster, an Uber driver with formula 1 aspirations?)
I guess what I’m asking is, by making the Mobi so small and light did they ultimately make it fragile and possibly dangerous or do lawyers just like to make companies issue baseless warnings so they can save money if their device kills you or unexpectedly fails?
Regarding magnets and pumps
I got my first pump (Deltec Cozmo) shortly before going on a 6 month backpacking trip in SE Asia, China, Taiwan and South Korea
I kept the pump in my pocket with a small, weak magnetic pocket compass.
Within a few weeks, the pump completely failed.
Fortunately I brought backup Lantus and the manufacturer, Smith’s Medical, stood behind their product and shipped me a new device.
Unfortunately, It was held up in Thailand customs and the government was demanding $2,000 in tariffs for importing a medical device. It didn’t matter that it was designated as a warranty replacement with all the paperwork in order.
We discussed refusing the device and moving on to Singapore where the medical device restrictions (and corruption) were not as severe, but Smith’s Medical ultimately chose to just pay for the import fees and I got my replacement device.
Amazing team. So sad they’re not around a anymore.
I doubt that level of service exists with other companies- when my omnipod pdm suddenly and mysteriously failed in New Zealand in 2019 (no magnets involved this time), Insult refused to send me a new one and said I’d have to wait until I got back to the states. (Omnipods are not available at all in New Zealand).
Always bring Lantus!
False. You are talking about infrared, like baseboard heaters in the US. Induction heaters use magnetic radiation; just magnetic (like those magnets you can by on Amazon and they stick to everything) not electromagnetic which is what light is (like those LED lightbulbs on Amazon).
Your quote did not say that:
True. Microwave ovens (but not induction heaters) use electromagnetic - like light, but not visible - radiation to heat.
You can do the same thing with a magnifying glass (not your spectacles unless you are long sighted) and the sun to burn out your Omnipod. It will take a while and don’t shine the spot on your skin (a favourite passtime when I was young. Boys.)
More important Microwave Ovens use approximately the same electromagnetic radiation as the Omnipod does, so if you jury rig one to actually broadcast it you can, perhaps, interfere with the Omnipod bluetooth but you will also break every wifi device in the area.
This (the previous paragraph) is the point of your quote; all wifi radiation, including bluetooth (which uses part of the wifi spectrum) and, indeed, most medical devices (which use an “ISM” bandwidth, same as wifi) can be blocked by anything else which uses it, is sufficiently close and is sufficiently powerful.
So you can’t stop an Omnipod from working by shining sunlight at it, unless you are as ingenious as my schoolmates, but you can by standing inside a microwave and leaving your phone/receiver outside (or, if you are not a gremlin, vice versa) or by going into an environment with a lot of radiation, like a CT scanner (but probably not if you take your phone with you) and so on…
How does an induction cooktop work?
An induction cooktop (a cooktop is called a “hob” in European countries) is simply an electromagnet you can cook with. Inside the glass cooktop, there’s an electronically controlled coil of metal. When you turn on the power, you make a current flow through the coil and it produces a magnetic field all around it and (most importantly) directly above it. Now a simple direct electric current (one that’s always flowing in the same direction) produces a constant magnetic field: one of the laws of electromagnetism is that fluctuating magnetism is produced only by a constantly changing electric current. So you have to use an alternating current (one that keeps reversing direction) to make a fluctuating magnetic field that will, indirectly, produce heat.
I have not experienced any problems with my OmniPod 5 while cooking on our induction stove
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