Post by James Ong, MD, FACC, FHRS

The World’s 1st "Permanent" Implantable PM In early 1958, 2 great minds met in Buffalo, NY to build a permanent PM. Greatbatch was an electrical engineer working on blocking oscillator circuit. Chardack was a surgeon at the VA, who had never performed a heart surgery. On April 16, 1958, Greatbatch built a prototype in a barn behind his house. The hand-soldered circuit & 10 batteries were dipped in epoxy and wrapped in Dow Corning silicone (159g). Frank Henefelt was a 77 yo man suffering from Stokes-Adams syndrome. He had to wear a football helmet to prevent head injuries. On April 18, 1960, Chardack & Greatbatch performed the world’s 1st “permanent” PM implant on Henefelt in 2 stages. They 1st implanted a Hunter-Roth lead and connected it to a Medtronic 5800. Then on June 6, they implanted the pulse generator. Henefelt went on to live another 30 months. In July 1960, Chardack & Greatbatch patented their invention, and in October, licensed it to Earl Bakken, setting the stage for Medtronic to become the world’s largest PM Company. By December of 1960, Medtronic already sold 50 PMs for $375 each. #electrophysiology #epeeps #pacemakers #cardiology #pacemaker #medicaleducation