(c) David Prutchi PhD
While helping triage HRS’ collection of implantable devices, I was surprised to find a pacemaker by an Argentinian company about which I hadn’t heard before.
The mercury-cell-powered pacemaker shown in the picture was made by Marcapasos Argentinos, a company that was based in Córdoba, Argentina. From what I’ve been able to find, the company was founded by Dr. Jorge Raúl Ruiz Aguilar (1927 – 1997) and engineer Eduardo Tagle to develop and manufacture demand pacemakers domestically.
There is very little information that I was able to find online about the company or the device. Eduardo Tagle’s LinkedIn states that over 3000 IPGs were implanted, and a short blurb about Dr. Ruiz Aguilar in the Argentinian Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery (Uribe A. Primera época de la cirugía cardíaca en Córdoba. Bosquejo histórico. Revista Argentina de Cirugía Cardiovascular (RACCV). 2009;VII(3):236–242.) says that the company was acquired by one of the large cardiac rhythm management companies of the time.
One additional breadcrumb: a publicly posted CV from Córdoba lists employment at Marcapasos Argentinos SRL (1975–1976) as an ‘operario de armado de plaquetas’ (PCB assembly operator), consistent with in-house electronics manufacturing.
If you know any other details about them, please contact me!