{"id":60503,"date":"2025-07-05T21:04:55","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T11:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/?p=60503"},"modified":"2025-07-05T21:04:55","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T11:04:55","slug":"pacemaker-invention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/?p=60503","title":{"rendered":"Pacemaker Invention"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pacemaker<\/p>\n

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Engineer Wilson Greatbatch accidentally grabbed the wrong part in 1958, leading to one of the most important medical inventions of the 20th century.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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He was building a device to record heart rhythms at the University of Buffalo. He reached into his component box for a 10,000-ohm resistor, but pulled out a 1-megaohm one instead.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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When he plugged it into the circuit, it didn’t work as intended. Instead of simply oscillating, the device began to emit a steady, rhythmic electrical pulse.<\/div>\n
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It pulsed for 1.8 milliseconds, then stopped for a second, then pulsed again. Greatbatch immediately recognized the rhythm. It was a perfect imitation of a healthy human heartbeat.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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He realized this wasn’t a failure, but a breakthrough. He saw the potential for a device that could be implanted inside the body to regulate a faulty heart.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Greatbatch refined his design over the next two years, working with surgeon Dr. William Chardack to make it small and safe enough for a human.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In 1958, they successfully tested their device by implanting it into a dog, proving it could take over the function of the heart.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Two years later, in 1960, the first implantable pacemaker was successfully placed in a human patient, extending his life by 18 months.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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This single mistake, grabbing the wrong tiny part from a box, gave rise to a technology that has saved and improved millions of lives worldwide.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Engineer Wilson Greatbatch accidentally grabbed the wrong part in 1958, leading to one of the most important medical inventions of the 20th century. He was building a device to record heart rhythms at the University of Buffalo. He reached into his component box for a 10,000-ohm resistor, but pulled out a 1-megaohm one instead. When … <\/p>\n

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