Does a class II and class III A laser have any harmful affects to a person with a pacemaker?

Answer 1

No.

Answer 2

Lasers come in several different "classes," depending on their wavelength and power level. The class 2 are really low power (less than 1 milliwatt) and visible light. Class 3a lasers are 1 to 5 milliwatt lasers as used in laser pointers and laser scanners. Class 3b are much higher power (up to 500milliwatt) and are teh kind used in laser light shows.

No laser should have any effect on a pacemaker.

The light will stop at the skin (or the eye, so be careful) and, not penetrating, will not contact the heart or the pacemaker attached to it. It will induce no electrical pulse in any wiring (more on that in a minute), nor will it affect any battery.

Light is electromagnetic radiation, that is true, but it is of such a high frequency that pacemaker equipment simply will not react to it. Pacemakers are quite robust, really. They are much more likely to be affected by radios, microwave ovens, and cell phones (which are just fancy radios anyway), but they are not. That's because they work intermittantly, they use DC, and thus are not very susceptible to most electromagnetic radiation. Some, yes, but not most and certainly not lasers.

Now, about electromagnetic radiation and wires. Wires will pick up an electromagnetic wave and act like antennas only when the frequency is close to the wire's "resonant frequency," and a resonant frequency at light frequencies is amazingly short, several hundred billionths of a meter. I believe that most pacemaker wiring is rather longer than that, long enough in fact that they will not act like antennas to light. Your house wiring does not--shine a flashlight on it and nothing happens, or let the sun shine on it and nothing happens--nor does a pacemaker. People with pacemakers go out into the sunshine all the time and they're fine.

So, if you ask because you or someone you know has a pacemaker and a laser pointer, or is going to go to a laser light show, not to worry. Use the pointer (safely!) and/or go to the show in confidence and have fun.

Answer 3

I don't know... but I hope you're not trying to harm anyone!