This is one of my most prized possessions. It is one of the very first pacemakers produced by CCC del Uruguay in 1969. It was given to me by my friend, the late Dr. Orestes Fiandra, founder of CCC del Uruguay.
On February 2, 1960, Dr. Orestes Fiandra and Dr. Roberto Rubio accomplished the first succesful long-term human implant of a pacemaker. The pacemaker was manufactured by Dr. Rune Elmqvist of Elema-Schönander in Sweden, and was implanted in Uruguay in a 34-year-old patient with AV block. This unit worked successfully for nine and a half months, until the patient died of sepsis from an unrelated infection.
In 1969, Dr. Fiandra started the “Centro de Construccion de Cardioestimuladores del Uruguay” (CCC for short) with the purpose of producing pacemakers for use in Latin America at prices well under those of American devices. The device in the photograph above is one of these devices – a simple VOO pacemaker powered by 5 mercury cells encapsulated in epoxy resin.
CCC is one of the oldest pacemaker manufacturers in the world. It was founded in 1969 by Dr. Orestes Fiandra, who performed the first succesful, human, long-term pacemaker implant in the world.
Dr. Fischell received his BSME degree from Duke University and MS and Sc.D. degrees from the University of Maryland. Dr. Fischell was employed at the Johns Hopkins University where he was the Chief Engineer of the Space Department and worked on more than 50 spacecraft. His interests at Johns Hopkins then turned to the invention of new medical devices such as pacemakers and implantable heart defibrillators. Starting in 1969, Dr. Fischell began the formation of 14 private companies that licensed his patents on medical devices. These companies include Pacesetter Systems, Inc. (now called St. Jude Medical), IsoStent, Inc., NeuroPace, Inc., Neuralieve, Inc., Angel Medical Systems, Inc, and Svelte Medical Systems, Inc. Dr. Fischell is a prolific inventor with over 200 issued U.S. and foreign patents, many of which have been the basis for new medical device companies. 
