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Pacemaker, created in Minnesota, marks 50th birthday
Happy Birthday to the pacemaker, which turns 50 years old today.
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Happy Birthday to the pacemaker, which turns 50 years old today.
A power failure on Oct. 31, 1957 that stretched from St. Cloud to Faribault, Minn. and eastward to Eau Claire, Wis. led to a conversation between University of Minnesota Medical School surgeon Dr. C. Walton Lillehei and Earl Bakken, the founder of Medtronic.
Lillehei asked Bakken to develop a battery back-up for his AC-operated pacemakers.
It took a few weeks, but Bakken created the first wearable, battery-operated external pacemaker. Following tests in University of Minnesota labs, the device was applied to a pediatric heart patient.
Each year, about 300,000 Americans and 900,000 people worldwide receive pacemakers. Since 1962, Medtronic has supplied patients with more than 6 million pacemakers.
Tim Harlow • harlow@startribune.com
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