Gianna Chien was somewhat different from all the other researchers reporting on their work to more than 8,000 doctors at last week's Heart Rhythm Society meeting.
Chien is 14, and her study — which found that Apple Inc.'s iPad2 can, in some cases, interfere with life-saving heart devices because of the magnets inside the cover — is based on a science-fair project that didn't even win her first place.
The research offers a valuable warning for people with implanted defibrillators, which deliver an electric shock to restart a stopped heart, said John Day, head of heart-rhythm services at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah.