OBITUARIES
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Wilson Greatbatch
Co-inventor of the first practical implanted pacemaker
Wilson Greatbatch, born in Buffalo, New York, in
1919, was considered a genius by many. Wilson or
Bill, as he was affectionately known, was a creative electrical engineer whose inventions changed
medicine forever and have helped save the lives of
millions of people around the world.
Heart block and bradycardia
When Greatbatch died in September, aged 92, his
achievements were recognised by media around
the world, and he was described as the “father of
the implantable pacemaker.” But Greatbatch did
not invent the pacemaker. Over the years several
people had experimented with electrical stimulation of the heart and the design of artificial pacemakers. By the 1950s, early cardiac pacemakers
were in use, but they were large, external to the
body, and had to be plugged into an electrical
wall socket. A lead was implanted in the patient’s
heart. These first pacemakers were used in adults
and children for heart block and bradycardia. They
helped but caregivers, patients, and their families
lived in fear of a power cut.
Next came a battery operated handheld pacemaker. Earl Bakken, the US engineer and cofounder of the medical devices maker Medtronic,
worked in his Minneapolis garage and developed
the first wearable battery powered artificial pacemaker in the late 1950s. This was a huge advance
because patients were no longer permanently
immobile. The next challenge was to design an
implantable pacemaker.
In 1958, Rune Elmqvist, an engineer who also
had a medical degree, designed an implantable
pacemaker when working with the cardiac surgeon
Åke Senning in Sweden. Dr Senning implanted
the pacemaker in a man with heart block on
8 Oc­tober 1958, explained Richard Sutton, professor of cardiology at Imperial College, London. The
device lasted about six hours but then failed and
had to be replaced by a second, which worked for
six weeks, and then this was replaced (Tex Heart
Inst J 2000;27:234-5). The patient lived another
44 years, dying at the age of 86 (www.nytimes.
com/2002/01/18/world/arne-h-w-larsson-86had-first-internal-pacemaker.html).
Eduardo Marbán, director of the Cedars-Sinai
Heart Institute and a former editor of Circulation
Research, said, “Before the implantable pacemaker, patients died routinely from the simplest
906
“Before the
implantable
pacemaker,
patients died
routinely from
the simplest
of causes . . .
Everything
changed with
the implantable
electronic
pacemaker—
often but
lamentably
taken for
granted
nowadays
of causes: slowing or cessation of the heartbeat.
Many of these were babies who had undergone
correction of congenital plumbing disorders. The
surgery may have been technically impeccable, but
they died of cardiac standstill. Everything changed
with the implantable electronic pacemaker—a
marvel of modern medicine, often but lamentably
taken for granted nowadays.”
Greatbatch was not actually working on the
development of an implantable pacemaker in
1956 when he came up with the idea for his
design. Greatbatch left his job as a professor at the
University of Buffalo, withdrew $2000 of his savings, and in his barn started to design a prototype.
He dedicated two years’ full time work to this goal
and created a device only two cubic inches (about
30 cm3) in size. He experimented on restoring heart
rhythm in animals, with Drs William Chardack and
Andrew Gage. Greatbatch personally made 50 of
the first completely implantable pulse generators
in the United States, 10 of them for humans. In
1960 he filed for a US patent on the pacemaker,
and in 1961 Medtronic purchased the rights to
produce and market the “Chardack-Greatbatch
implantable pulse generator.”
Greatbatch then designed a lithium battery
to extend the device’s life because the original lasted only about 18 months. He founded
W­ilson G­reatbatch Ltd in 1970 to manufacture
the b­atteries and other devices.
Electrical engineering
Greatbatch was awarded a bachelor of electrical engineering degree from Cornell University
in 1950. He received a masters degree in electrical engineering from the University of Buffalo in
1957 and held honorary degrees from the State
University of New York at Buffalo, C­larkson
U­niversity, and Roberts Wesleyan College.
In 1983 the US National Society of P­rofessional
Engineers named the implantable pacemaker
one of the 10 greatest engineering contributions
to society in the past 50 years. Greatbatch wrote
an autobiographical account of his invention,
en­titled The Making of the P­acemaker: Ce­lebrating
a Lifesaving Invention. This “humble tinkerer”
never stopped inventing, and when he died he
held more than 150 patents.
Greatbatch is remembered by his family,
friends, and colleagues as kind, wise, humble,
deeply religious, and an inspiring teacher and
mentor. “He was a wonderful man who really
helped his fellow human being,” said Dr Sutton.
Greatbatch’s wife, born Eleanor Fay Wright, died
in January aged 90; they had been married for 66
years. He leaves a daughter and three sons. His
youngest son, Peter, died in 1998.
Barbara Kermode-Scott
Wilson Greatbatch, electrical engineer (b 1919), died
on 27 September 2011 from renal failure.
Cite this as: BMJ 2011;343:d6765
BMJ | 29 OCTOBER 2011 | VOLUME 343
OBITUARIES
Robert Glen
Brackenridge
Retired consultant physician,
Hexham General Hospital (b 1929;
q Edinburgh 1951 ), died on 24 May
2011 from motor neurone disease.
Robert Glen Brackenridge
(“Robbie”) was born in Cardenden,
a Scottish mining village, where
his father was the local general
practitioner. He won a bursary to
the University of Edinburgh to study
medicine. After his National Service
as a medical officer in the Royal
Air Force in Singapore and Kuala
Lumpur he trained in medicine in
Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Dundee.
He was appointed consultant
physician at Hexham General
Hospital in 1966 and worked there
until he retired in 1994. He was
involved in setting up the school of
nursing and wrote a book, Essential
Medicine, which became a standard
nursing text. He is survived by
his wife, four daughters, and 10
grandchildren.
Anna Brackenridge
Cite this as: BMJ 2011;343:d6919
Peter Devlin
Former consultant obstetrician/
gynaecologist Hereford County
Hospital, Hereford (b 1918;
q University College Dublin, 1941),
d 16 June 2011.
After qualifying Peter Devlin
(“Pete”) worked for a brief period
in general practice and then came
to England, where he worked
as resident medical officer,
specialising in surgery, at what
became Hereford County Hospital.
In 1945 Pete was appointed deputy
medical superintendent at Hereford,
and in 1948, with the arrival of the
NHS, he was appointed consultant
obstetrician-gynaecologist—a post
he held until his retirement in 1981.
Apart from hospital duties Pete was
BMJ | 29 OCTOBER 2011 | VOLUME 343
medical officer for Hereford United
Football Club. After retirement he
taught children to read at the local
primary school. Predeceased by
Monica, his wife for over 50 years,
he leaves two children and two
grandchildren.
Ben Moore
Cite this as: BMJ 2011;343:d6740
P B S Fowler
native India. She was appointed
locum consultant at University
College Hospital and later became
consultant to the SE Canterbury
and Thanet health authorities. A
clinical all-rounder, she worked
as a research fellow in pathology
at the Institute of Laryngology and
Otology in London. She suffered life
long ill health: measles in childhood
developed into bronchiectasis in
later life. She was a devout Parsi
Zoroastrian, first marrying a Hindu
from her native city, who died
young, and then finding much
happiness with her haematologist
husband Derek Wells.
Rumy Kapadia
with the local medical committee.
He enjoyed walking, bird watching,
running and tennis. On
retirement he cycled from
Montpellier to Birmingham.
He leaves a wife, Dilys; four
children; and nine
grandchildren.
Martin Wilkinson
Cite this as: BMJ 2011;343:d6379
James Jack Young
Cite this as: BMJ 2011;343:d6747
Former consultant physician Charing
Cross Hospital, London (b Shanghai
1921; q St Thomas’ Hospital, London
1944), d 9 August 2011.
After qualifying P B S Fowler
(Bruce) enlisted in the Army as
a captain and was sent to Egypt.
He was appointed as an NHS
consultant physician at Charing
Cross Hospital in 1960. He was
also an examiner for conjoint
and university finals and the
membership of the Royal College
of Physicians and the Professional
and Linguistic Assessments
Board (PLAB). His most important
original observation was that
premyxoedema (now known as
subclinical hypothyroidism) could
be responsible for the development
of coronary artery disease. He
continued in private practice until
he was 82. His wife, four
children, and 12 grandchildren
survive him.
Richard Savage
Suzanne Savage
Cite this as: BMJ 2011;343:d6748
Meher Derek Wells
Former consultant
otorhinolaryngologist (b 1937;
q Osmania Medical College,
Hyderabad, India 1960; FCRS),
d 24 May 2011.
Meher Derek Wells (nee Mehta)
was appointed senior house officer
in otorhinolaryngology shortly
after coming to England from her
Brian Richard
Wilkinson
Former general practitioner
Birmingham (b 1927; q Cambridge/
Bart’s London 1949; FRCGP 1986,
DObstRCOG), d 25 March 2011.
For his National Service, Brian
Richard Wilkinson was assigned
to Chester Military Hospital. He
trained as a general practitioner in
Herefordshire and in 1958
moved to Shard End Surgery,
Birmingham. He became a hospital
practitioner in rheumatology and
pioneered inpatient GP beds with
the Beauchamp Ward at
East Birmingham Hospital. A GP
trainer since the mid-1970s he
inspected new training practices
CORRECTION
Barron Bruce
MacGillivray
Maxwell
Caplin
Former general practitioner, Paisley
(b 1931, q Glasgow 1954), died from
jejunal carcinoma on 6 August 2011.
James Jack Young (“Jim”) undertook
locum posts in general practice
before joining the King Street
Practice in Paisley. He was
pivotal in leading the practice
into postgraduate training when
this was introduced in 1973. An
early exponent of patient centred
consultations, he was held in
high esteem by both patients and
colleagues. After retiring to
Oban in 1994, Jim became involved
in his church and community.
His contributions to Paisley Burns
club, Oban Speakers club, and
the University of the Third Age were
only some of the ways in which he
continued to share his
knowledge and enthusiasms.
He is survived by Sheila, his wife of
15 years; two children; and three
grandchildren.
Winnie Weir
Cite this as: BMJ 2011;343:d6750
Because of a production
error, the two photographs
accompanying these
obituaries were swapped
in the print BMJ (issue
22 October 2011, p 847).
We apologise to the families
of the deceased for the
distress this must have
caused them.
Cite this as: BMJ 2011;343:d6912
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