Pacemakers-By Andrew Longe

Andrew Longe 2/14/11

Biology Mrs. Darco

The Pacemaker

If a patient’s heart stopped with out warning it would often result in death if a defibrillator was not used with in five minutes. Before the invention of pacemakers if a patient had a irregular heart beat or there was a blockage in the hearts electrical system it would normally result in a patients heart stopping. But it was not until 1958 when engineer Earl Bakken invented the first wearable pacemaker.

The first wearable pacemaker developed in 1958 was a very crude version of what we know a pacemaker to be today. Earl Bakken invented it for patients of Dr. C. Walton Lillehei who had a irregular heart beat. His invention was called a transistorised pacemaker. This pacemaker was housed in a small plastic box and had controls to adjust to the heart rate and also the output voltage of the electricity. It was connected to electrode leads, which penetrated through the skin. These electrode leads ended in the surface of the myocardium of the heart.

Later on in the year of 1958 the first ever-implantable pacemaker was implanted into the heart of a patient at the Karolinska Institute in Solna, Sweden. After only three hours the pace maker failed. The pace maker was designed by Rune Elmqvist and was implanted into the heart by surgeon Ake Senning. After the first device had failed a second device was implanted that lasted for two days. The patient went on to recive 26 pace makers through his life time until he died in 2001, at the age of 86.

It was not until February of 1960 that a improved version of the pace maker that the Swedes had designed was implanted in Montevideo, Uruguay. This device lasted until the patient died of other illnesses, which occurred nine months later. These early versions had to be charged from outside the body through a induction coil placed on the skin. It was not until April of 1960 that the pace makers made by engineer Wilson Greatbatch was placed in human hearts. These pacemakers used a new type of battery, which lasted longer than the traditional battery use to. It was not until 1971 that the world saw the pacemaker, as we know it today. These new pacemakers used a lithium-iodide battery, which made them out last their predecessors by far.

In conclusion with out the invention of the pacemakers many people would have died. It has helped save the lives of countless people with heart trouble and irregular heart beats.

The journal article I used for this paper was excellent. I helped me understand about what a pacemaker is and the history behind them. It had many diagrams that showed what and where a pacemaker would go inside a human body. I would recommend this source to a peer if they needed information on a pacemaker.