| Wilson Greatbatch  Born: 6-Sep-1919
Birthplace: Buffalo, NY
Died: 27-Sep-2011
Location of death: Amherst, NY
Cause of death: unspecified
Gender: Male
Religion: Christian
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Inventor
Party Affiliation: Republican Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Implantable pacemaker Military service: US Navy (radio operator, 1938-45) Wilson Greatbatch's pacemaker was not the first invention designed to regulate the human heartbeat, but earlier devices had been prohibitively expensive, about the size of an oven, and required the patient to be tethered to an electric cord.
While studying at Cornell, Greatbatch became intrigued by a disease called complete heart block, wherein the natural electric impulse from the brain to the heart's sinus node is disrupted. This signal causes the heart muscle to contract and pump blood, so when the signal is not present there can be fatal consequences. Greatbatch contemplated the possibility of an implantable electronic cardiac pacemaker. In 1958, working with physicians William Chardack and Andrew Gage, Greatbatch constructed a working model, the basis for the millions of pacemakers now in use. He built the first several dozen pacemakers by hand, which became unnecessary after licensing his patent to Medtronic. Greatbatch later founded his own company, and filed more than 250 patents, including a long-life corrosion-free lithium battery for the pacemaker, and a solar-powered canoe.
Wife: Eleanor Greatbatch (home ec teacher, m. 1-Jan-1945, five children)
High School: West Seneca High School, West Seneca, NY (1937)
University: BS Electrical Engineering, Cornell University (1956)
University: MS Electrical Engineering, Buffalo State College (1957)
Wilson Greatbatch Ltd. Founder (1970)
Institute of Radio Engineers
IEEE
National Academy of Engineering
National Republican Senatorial Committee
National Inventors Hall of Fame 1986
National Medal of Technology and Innovation 1986
Heart Attack 17-Nov-2001
English Ancestry Paternal
Author of books:
The Making of the Pacemaker (2000, memoir)
Requires Flash 7+ and Javascript.
Do you know something we don't?
Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile
Copyright ©2019 Soylent Communications
| 
