WHO

• by Nim Rod
• 2008-08-29 03:08:16
• General Posting
• 1270 views
• 3 comments

YOU DECIDE WHO IS THE INVENTOR OF THE PACEMAKER.

In Dr. Albert L. Hyman's words:

"Finally on April 6, 1930, I received Grant No. 30-2 from the Witkin Foundation to explore the possibility of developing a practical machine to be used as an artificial pacemaker in experimental animals. Reduced to its simplest blueprint form, such an apparatus would include


(1) a small source of electric current, i.e., a common flashlight battery;
(2) an interrupter mechanism;
(3) a timing device;
(4) a method of regulating the duration of the injected current; and,
(5) a suitable insulated needle to carry the current only to the right atrial area of the heart. The instrument would, of course, be easily portable, and small enough to fit into a doctor's bag.

"The next 10 months were devoted to the assembly of such an apparatus ....

"By March 1, 1932 the artificial pacemaker had been used about 43 times, with a successful outcome in 14 cases."

A polished production model of Hyman's pacemaker was developed and tested by Siemens-Halske in Germany, and their American subsidiary Adlanco. It was tested by Dr. Siegfrid Koeppen, who apparently was not satisfied with it.

It's difficult to provide reliable data on Hyman's pacemaker. His articles give data only on animals, and most other commentary is not from a peer-reviewed journal. The proceedings of a conference held on February 16, 1942 contain a report of its successful short-term use in treating Stokes-Adams syndrome (the most common modern reason for needing a pacemaker).

Perhaps the fairest thing to say is that Hyman's pacemaker, like Otto von Guericke's electrostatic generator, was made before the world was ready for it.


By Mary Bellis
Early Heart Pacemaker: Canadian, John Hopps invented the first cardiac pacemaker. Hopps was trained as an electrical engineer at the University of Manitoba and joined the National Research Council in 1941, where he conducted research on hypothermia. While experimenting with radio frequency heating to restore body temperature, Hopps made an unexpected discovery: if a heart stopped beating due to cooling, it could be started again by artificial stimulation using mechanical or electric means. This lead to Hopps' invention of the world's first cardiac pacemaker in 1950. His device was far too large to be implanted inside of the human body. It was an external pacemaker. (Source http://www.nrc.ca)

Wilson Greatbatch
Wilson Greatbatch invented a newly-designed cardiac pacemaker and a corrosion-free lithium battery to power it - Invention Dimension.'

Wilson Greatbatch
Wilson Greatbatch invented the medical cardiac pacemaker. This is the story of how a very average person developed into one of the country's greatest inventors with more than 140 patents. His most famous invention called the cardiac pacemaker, keeps the rhythm of millions of heartbeats and helps people live longer and better.

Canadian, John Hopps invented the first external cardiac pacemaker. Hopps was trained as an electrical engineer at the University of Manitoba and joined the National Research Council in 1941, where he conducted research on hypothermia. While experimenting with radio frequency heating to restore body temperature, Hopps made an unexpected discovery: if a heart stopped beating due to cooling, it could be started again by artificial stimulation using mechanical or electric means. This lead to Hopps' invention of the world's first cardiac pacemaker in 1950. His device was far too large to be implanted inside of the human body (Source: National Reseach Council of Canada)

American, Wilson Greabatch invented the first internal cardiac pacemaker. After earning a BS (Cornell) and MSEE (University of Buffalo), and after serving with the Navy in World War II, Wilson Greatbatch began working in medical research. Greatbatch was building an oscillator to record heart sounds. When he accidentally installed a resistor with the wrong resistance into the unit, it began to give off a steady electrical pulse. Greatbatch realized that the small device could be used to regulate the human heart. After two years of refinements, he had hand-crafted the world's first successful implantable pacemaker (patent #3,057,356). Until that time, the apparatus used to regulate heartbeat was the size of a television set, and painful to use. Greatbatch later went one step further, inventing a corrosion-free lithium battery to power the pacemaker. All told, his pacemakers and batteries have improved and saved the lives of millions of persons worldwide. Thus in 1985 the National Society of Professional Engineers named Greatbatch's invention one of the ten greatest engineering contributions

In Dr.Albert L. Hyman's words:

"Finally on April 6, 1930, I received Grant No. 30-2 from the Witkin Foundation to explore the possibility of developing a practical machine to be used as an artificial pacemaker in experimental animals. Reduced to its simplest blueprint form, such an apparatus would include:

(1) a small source of electric current, i.e., a common flashlight battery;
(2) an interrupter mechanism;
(3) a timing device;
(4) a method of regulating the duration of the injected current; and,
(5) a suitable insulated needle to carry the current only to the right atrial area of the heart. The instrument would, of course, be easily portable, and small enough to fit into a doctor's bag.

"The next 10 months were devoted to the assembly of such an apparatus ....

"By March 1, 1932 the artificial pacemaker had been used about 43 times, with a successful outcome in 14 cases."

A polished production model of Hyman's pacemaker was developed and tested by Siemens-Halske in Germany, and their American subsidiary Adlanco. It was tested by Dr. Siegfrid Koeppen, who apparently was not satisfied with it.

It's difficult to provide reliable data on Hyman's pacemaker. His articles give data only on animals, and most other commentary is not from a peer-reviewed journal. The proceedings of a conference held on February 16, 1942 contain a report of its successful short-term use in treating Stokes-Adams syndrome (the most common modern reason for needing a pacemaker).

Perhaps the fairest thing to say is that Hyman's pacemaker, like Otto von Guericke's electrostatic generator, was made before the world was ready for it.