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| Titles |
Pioneers of the Medical Device Industry in Minnesota Oral History Project: Interview with Earl Bakken and C. Walton Lillehei |
|---|---|
| Description |
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Earl E. Bakken was born and educated in Minnesota. He started the Medtronic Corporation and developed many medical devices including the first portable wearable pacemaker and the first implantable pacemaker. He founded the Bakken Library and Museum in Minneapolis. C. Walton Lillehei was born and educated in Minnesota. In the early 1950s he performed the first successful open-heart surgery. He developed new procedures and ideas for medical devices like pacemakers and heart valves to improve heart function. He served as a researcher and professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He was the Medical Director of St. Jude Medical's Heart Valve Division. He died in 1999. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Memories; building layout; parents as oxygenators; cross-circulation; changes to operating rooms and procedures; Owen Wangensteen, Food and Drug Administration; experiences working together; animal labs; Earl Bakken's background; Richard DeWall; open-heart surgery and body temperature; methods for fixing defects like atrial septum defects and congenital valvular lesions; oxygenation; Grass physiological stimulator; uses of pacemaker for babies; developing a battery operated pacemaker; output measure in milliamps versus volts; ambient light; pacemakers as treatment of heart block in adults; batteries. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: There is a video log available in the Oral History Office. |
| Quantity |
1.5 hours videocassette 24 pages transcript |
| Format |
Content Category: moving images Content Category: sound recordings Content Category: text |
| Measurements |
01:23:40 running time |
| Creation |
Interviewee: Bakken, Earl E. (Earl Elmer) Interviewee: Lillehei, C. Walton Interviewer: Rhees, David J. Ph.D. Made in: Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States |
| Dates |
Creation: 09/09/1997 |
| Holding Type | Oral History - Interview |
| Identifiers |
OH 87 (Library Call Number) AV1997.198 (Accession Number) |
| More Info |
MNHS Library Catalog |
| Related Collections |
Oral History - Project, MHS Collection, project: 'Pioneers of the Medical Device Industry in Minnesota Oral History Project' |
Transcript