A blog about what is new (and old) in the world of active implantable medical devices

Category Archives: Museum

Vintage implantable devices

Devices Implants Limited pacemaker brochures

Posted on by Posted in Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, Devices Implants Limited, History, Museum
Pacemaker by Devices Implants Ltd

From brochure of Devices Implants Limited axilla pacemaker

Devices Implants Limited of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire was the only British manufacturer of implantable pacemakers.  It operated between December 1974 and June 1983  when it was acquired by Intermedics.

Devices Implants Ltd. manufactured a number of pacemakers that were developed in collaboration with the St George’s Hospital, London.

There is very little information available on their 1960s devices, so I was glad when I found brochures for two of the Devices Implants pacemakers between the archives of the Clarence Historical Society.

Devices Implants Ltd pacemakers brochure

The History of Pacing and EP: Meeting the Legendary Dr. James Ong at HRS 2025

Posted on by Posted in History, Museum

David Prutchi PhD and James Ong MD at HRS 2025 in San Diego

At HRS 2025, I had the great pleasure and honor of meeting a true legend in our field — Dr. James Ong, a fellow cardiac rhythm management (CRM) device history enthusiast and collector.

James brought along highlights from his extensive collection, carefully curated to showcase true milestones in our industry’s evolution. His passion for preserving the history of CRM was on full display through these rare and important artifacts.

In addition to sharing his collection, James and Dr. Igor Efimov organized a remarkable four-hour session titled “Neverending Conversation: A History of HRS and the Field of Electrophysiology.” This session brought together 16 pioneering experts who were on the ground floor when the foundations for modern electrophysiology was being laid.

Preserving and teaching the history of our field is critically important. Many of today’s cutting-edge innovations — such as leadless pacemakers and physiologic pacing — were first proposed and investigated decades ago. Only now do we have the technology to turn those early visions into practical reality. Likewise, many “modern” ideas that are being re-explored today were previously discredited, and a deeper understanding of the past could save precious time, effort, and funding for today’s physicians, engineers, and investors.

Pacemaker collection brought by James Ong MD to HRS 2025

History: Mennen Medical and the First Israeli Pacemakers 1976-1980

Posted on by Posted in Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, Greatbatch Medical (Power), History, Mennen Medical (1976-1980), Museum, Omikron Scientific (1979-1985)
Mennen Medical’s Model 801 pacemaker. From: https://www.makash.org.il/sy/jerusa_book.pdf

Mennen Medical’s Model 801 pacemaker. From: Dr. Shmuel Yerushalmi’s memoir at www.makash.org.il/sy/jerusa_book.pdf

I spent the year-end holidays in Israel and had the pleasure of speaking with some of Mennen Medical’s and Omikron Scientific’s first employees regarding the efforts that these companies made in the late 1970s and early 1980s towards the development and manufacture of pacemakers in Israel.

Benny Kiron, who joined Mennen Medical in 1976 as a product designer, referred me to Dr. Shmuel Yerushalmi’s memoir at www.makash.org.il/sy/jerusa_book.pdf, from which I was finally able to understand the origin of Mennen Medical’s pacemaker project, as well as its relationship with Omikron Scientific.

Dr. Shmuel Yerushalmi was born in Brasil and emigrated to Israel in 1956. In 1976, while still pursuing his doctorate at the prestigious Weizmann Institute, he started working at the Israeli subsidiary of Mennen-Greatbatch of Clarence, NY.

The Mennen-Greatbatch partnership was dissolved when Wilson Greatbatch decided to concentrate on lithium battery development, and the Israeli company became a subsidiary of Mennen Medical, where an implantable pacemaker project was started.

RF-powered pacemaker developed by the Weizmann Institute and meant for production by Elta. From: https://www.makash.org.il/sy/jerusa_book.pdf

RF-powered pacemaker developed by the Weizmann Institute and meant for production by Elta. From: Dr. Shmuel Yerushalmi’s memoir at www.makash.org.il/sy/jerusa_book.pdf

Shmuel Yerushalmi had worked on the development of an RF-powered pacemaker while still a technician at the Weizmann institute, so his experience was tapped at Mennen Medical to lead the development of a VVI pacemaker powered by a Greatbatch lithium battery. The project was supported by Israel’s Chief Scientist Office and the BIRD (Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development) Foundation .

PCBA of Mennen Medical’s Model 801 pacemaker. Device was kindly gifted to me by Koby Kamin. ©2025 David Prutchi.

PCBA of Mennen Medical’s Model 801 pacemaker. Device was kindly gifted to me by Koby Kamin. ©2025 David Prutchi.

Continue reading→

History: The Pacesetter Rechargeable Human Tissue Stimulator

Posted on by Posted in Alfred E. Mann, Dr. Robert Fischell, Epilepsy, Museum, Neural Stimulation, Pacesetter, Pain, Wireless Power Transmission
Pacesetter Human Tissue Stimulator

Pacesetter Human Tissue Stimulator (HTS) (c) David Prutchi, Ph.D., 2024

I recently acquired this device on eBay® (from a very kind seller, I may add).  Although labeled as a “Rechargeable Pacemaker,” and looks just like the one at the Udvar-Hazy about which I had posted a few years ago, it is in fact a neurostimulator.

The Human Tissue Stimulator or “HTS” was developed subsequently to the rechargeable pacemaker, prompted by the clinical need for a rechargeable implantable neurostimulator.

Continue reading→

Tesla LSK 200 Pacemaker, Czechoslovakia 1969

Posted on by Posted in Cardiac Pacing, History, Museum, Tesla Czechoslovakia

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Czechoslovakia, like many other countries, had its own pacemaker development/manufacturing.

Starting in 1965, Dr. Bohumil Peleška and ing. Vladimír Bičík designed and manufactured a VOO pacemaker under the auspices of the “Research Institute for Medical Electronics and Modelling” (RIMEM).  The device underwent human implantation and worked for 2 years before being preemptively replaced.

RIMEM’s pacemakers were then transferred for commercial production at the Czechoslovak TESLA state-owned electrotechnical conglomerate.  TESLA was originally named after Nikola Tesla, but later explained by the Communist regime as an abbreviation from TEchnika SLAboproudá, which means “low-voltage technology.”

An interesting presentation about the history of pacemakers in the former Czechoslovakia is available here.

Intermedics’ 1995 Res-Q ACD

Posted on by Posted in Cardioversion/Defibrillation, History, Intermedics (1974-1999), Museum, Tachycardia

In December of 1995 FDA approved the Res-Q ACD.  This was Intermedics’ first implantable defibrillator.  The abdominal-implant device was a relatively late-comer, and large for the time (230 g), but it did offer the highest energy output (40 Joules).  Another unique feature of the ResQ device was that it provided a connectorized sterile package which allowed complete pre-implant testing, thereby reducing the need for additional equipment.

Acknowledgement:  Thanks to Tim Carroll and Randy Armstrong at Velentium for allowing me to take a picture of this device in their collection.

Intec’s AID – The Very First Implantable Defibrillators

Posted on by Posted in Cardioversion/Defibrillation, History, Museum, Stephen Heilman, Tachycardia

Intec AID-B. (c) 2021 David Prutchi, PhD.

Conceived by physicians Michel Mirowski and Morton Mower, and supported by Dr. Stephen Heilman, the first automatic implantable defibrillator was developed and manufactured under the name of “AID” by Medrad/Intec Systems in Pittsburgh, PA.

It was encased in titanium and hermetically sealed with a laser beam weld. It had a volume of 145 ml and weighed 250 gm. The device was powered by lithium batteries which had a projected monitoring life of 3 years or a discharge capability of 100 shocks.

The ICD was designed to detect ventricular fibrillation and sinusoidal ventricular tachycardia, and it attempted to using a truncated exponential 25 Joules pulse.  The device could recycle three times during a single episode with the third and fourth pulses delivered at 30 Joules.

The device was meant to be connected to electrodes made from titanium and coated with silicone rubber. One defibrillating electrode was located intravascularly in the superior vena cava (SVC) at the right atrial junction. The second electrode had the configuration of a rectangular patch or a cup and was positioned over the cardiac apex.

First implants of the device were conducted at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in 1980.  These devices were not programmable and manufactured on an individual basis.  The AID was then improved with rate-counting circuitry and could synchronize shocks with the R-wave.  Efforts were also made to reduce the recycling time after a failed shock.  The new device was called the AID-B (shown in the picture), but was still manufactured according to individual specifications.

Circuitry of the AID-B implantable defibrillator. From: PJ Troup, “Implantable Cardioverters and Defibrillators”, Current Problems in Cardiology, Volume 14, Issue 12, December 1989.

Acknowledgement:  Thanks to Tim Carroll and Randy Armstrong at Velentium for allowing me to take a picture of this device in their collection.

Historical Piece: Intermedics’ C-MOS-I Mercury-Cell Pacemaker (1973)

Posted on by Posted in Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, Intermedics (1974-1999), Museum

Intermedics C-MOS-I Pacemaker. Image credit: Michael Sklanowsky

In 1973, former Medtronic sales representative Albert Beutel founded Intermedics in Freeport, TX. The company’s first product was the C-MOS-I implantable pulse generator – a small (for the time), mercury-cell-powered pacemaker.

Mike Sklanowsky shared pictures of a C-MOS-I sample that he owns.  Mike was a software consultant to Intermedics in Freeport around 1974, where he developed the first computerized pacemaker tracking and product recall software.  Through his software, Intermedics tracked pacemaker  locations and movement through distribution warehouse shelves, hospitals, clinics, doctors, nurses, patient notification of expiring battery charge, product recall communications, follow-ups, etc.

Before Intermedics, Mike worked for JPL, which was his first full-time job upon graduating from UCLA.  At JPL he worked on problems related to celestial mechanics, spacecraft orbit determination, trajectory analysis, instrument operations, and human interfaces for real-time command and control.  His first project was Mariner 9 Mars, which became the first man-made satellite to orbit another planet.

Mike, and fellow UCLA graduate Bob Patterson were the only two people from their class to get hired by JPL.  Bob’s mentor, Prof. Ken Nobe involved both with Intermedics.  Dr. Robert (Bob) Patterson was an expert in long-life lithium battery technology for space exploration, and his work for Intermedics led to the 1974 development of a lithium-powered version of C-MOS-I, followed in 1976 by InterLith which was hermetically sealed, and weighed just 65 grams.

Historical Piece: InnerPulse’s Percutaneous Intravascular Cardioverter-Defibrillator (PICD)

Posted on by Posted in Cardioversion/Defibrillation, InnerPulse, Museum, Tachycardia

InnerPulse Percutaneous Implantable Crdioverter Defibrillator PICD (c) David Prutchi, Ph.D. www.implantable-device.com

 

InnerPulse was founded in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 2003 to develop an intravascular defibrillator placed completely within the vasculature.

The idea was that unlike typical CRM devices, the InnerPulse fully intravascular defibrillator (PICD™) technology would be implanted percutaneously utilizing a catheter-based procedure. Additionally, the implant procedure would be familiar to both electrophysiologists (who currently implant the majority of CRM devices) and other implanting cardiologists, and was thought to have significantly lower infection rates than surgical procedures. The intravascular device was also touted by InnerPulse as having potential reliability advantages, including the virtual elimination of performance issues associated with cardiac leads and device headers. In addition, because the IID does not require a surgical pocket, patients would benefit through lower post-procedure discomfort and improved cosmesis. In the end, the device would be imperceptible to the patient and will address known barriers to patient acceptance of an implanted device.

By 2008, backed with $85M by Industry giants such as Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Medtronic, Inc., Synergy Life Science Partners, Ascent Biomedical Ventures, Delphi Ventures, Frazier Heathcare Ventures, Boston Scientific, and Greatbatch, Inc. InnerPulse had developed an intravascular, percutaneously placed implantable defibrillator (InnerPulse percutaneous intravascular cardioverter-defibrillator [PICD]) with a right ventricular (RV) single-coil lead and titanium electrodes in the superior vena cava (SVC) and the inferior vena cava (IVC).

InnerPulse Percutaneous Implantable Crdioverter Defibrillator PICD (c) David Prutchi, Ph.D. www.implantable-device.com

The device itself was a masterpiece of engineering, featuring a completely hermetical but flexible enclosure. The flexible interfaces between the cylindrical segments was provided by titanium bellows with internal flexible wiring. The batteries and defibrillation capacitors were custom-made for this device. Circuitry was all laid-out in flexible boards that would be folded to accommodate the cylindrical geometry.

InnerPulse Percutaneous Implantable Crdioverter Defibrillator PICD (c) David Prutchi, Ph.D. www.implantable-device.com

Control Module for the InnerPulse PicD

The PICD’s control circuit was powered by a CFx battery, while energy for defibrillation was produced by a stack of two SVO cells.

InnerPulse Percutaneous Implantable Crdioverter Defibrillator PICD (c) David Prutchi, Ph.D. www.implantable-device.com

SVO Cell Stack for the InnerPulse PICD

 

InnerPulse Percutaneous Implantable Crdioverter Defibrillator PICD (c) David Prutchi, Ph.D. www.implantable-device.com

CFx battery used to power the PICD’s Control Circuitry

 

InnerPulse Percutaneous Implantable Crdioverter Defibrillator PICD (c) David Prutchi, Ph.D. www.implantable-device.com

HV Capacitor for the InnerPulse PICD

Tests in human subjects showed similar defibrillation thresholds compared to a standard ICD. In a 10-subject study, PICD DFT was 7.6 ± 3.3 J, and the conventional ICD system demonstrated a mean DFT of 9.5 ± 4.7 J (N = 10; paired t test, P = .28). Unfortunately however, a chronic animal study revealed problems of lead dislodgement, loss of capture, and perforation.

Ultimately, Boston Scientific decided to acquire Cameron’s Subcutaneous ICD (S-ICD) and stopped backing InnerPulse. InnerPulse was dissolved after it had no money left for resolving the technical issues and conducting chronic human clinical trials.

A Device that didn’t make it to market: AJ Medical’s CardioAlarm to detect cardiac arrest

Posted on by Posted in AJ Medical, ECG Monitoring, Museum

Walking through MD&M is always fun because component and assembly companies often display implantable devices that never made it to market or technologies that they are incorporating into brand new devices that have not yet reached prime time.

AJ Medical’s CardioAlarm is a sample of an implantable device that didn’t quite made it. It was meant to automatically detect cardiac arrest and use a wirelessly-connected pager-like device to alert bystanders and call 911.

As many other alert implantable medical devices, CardioAlarm didn’t make it to market. The latest victim being Angel Medical needing to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection soon after achieving FDA approval for its Guardian Implantable Heart Attack Monitor, although hopefully this is just a financial restructuring exercise to gear up for full commercialization of the device.

Pacesetter’s 1973 Rechargeable Pacemaker

Posted on by Posted in Alfred E. Mann, Cardiac Pacing, Dr. Robert Fischell, History, Museum, Pacesetter, Power Sources, Rechargeable Batteries, Wireless Power Transmission

Demo of a rechargeable Pacesetter pacemaker at the Udvar-Hazy Center. www.implantable-device.com, David Prutchi PhD

Yesterday I visited the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Chantilly, VA.  There I found this demo rechargeable pacemaker being displayed as a spinoff of NASA’s technology with the following explanation:

Demo of a rechargeable Pacesetter pacemaker at the Udvar-Hazy Center. www.implantable-device.com, David Prutchi PhD

Pacesetter model BD102 VVI rechargeable pacemaker www.implantable-devices.com David Prutchi PhDI can’t remember exactly where I found the picture of a Pacesetter model BD102 VVI, but the story behind it is documented by Kirk Jeffrey in “Machines in our Hearts”:

“In 1968, Robert Fischell, of the Applied Physics LOaboratory at Johns Hopkins University, and cardiologist Kenneth B. Lewis had begun a collaboration that led in 1973 to a new kind of Ni-Cad battery able to function more effectively at body temperature and hermetically sealable.  Alfred E. Mann, a California entrepreneur with background in the aerospace industry, had provided some financial support to the Hopkins group.  Eventually Mann founded a small company to develop a pacemaker for the rechargeable battery; this was the origin of Pacesetter Systems.  The rechargeable pacemaker reached the market in the summer of 1973, just as CPI introduced its lithium pacer.”

 

One for History Buffs: Pacemaker Made in Brasil

Posted on by Posted in Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, CCC del Uruguay, CCC Medical, Museum

Implantable Pacemaker Made in Brasil. www.implantable-device.com David Prutchi Ph.D.

My friend Daniel Villamil from CCC Medical in Uruguay sent me these pictures of a very unique device in his colection.  It is a late-1960s/early 1970s pacemaker made in Sao Paulo, Brasil.

UPDATE Oct 3, 2012:

CCC’s CEO Julio Arzuaga recalled that this pacemaker was manufactured in the early 1960s by the Instituto de Cardiologia Dante Pazzanese in Sao Paulo, Brasil.  The physicians leading the pacemaker team were Dr. Decio Kormann and Dr. Adib Jatene.

Dr. Orestes Fiandra used to implant these Brasilian pacemakers in Uruguay.  However, they were not very reliable.  For this reason, and with help from Drs. Kormann and Jatene, Dr. Fiandra started CCC del Uruguay as a more industrial environment for the production of pacemakers.

Implantable Pacemaker Made in Brasil. www.implantable-device.com David Prutchi Ph.D.

Digikon’s History

Posted on by Posted in Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, Digikon, History, Museum

Digikon model LD451 Ventricular Inhibited Pulse GeneratorIn response to my post “A Challenge to History Buffs:  Who Was Digikon?“, Paolo Pagani sent me the following message:

“Digikon was in the years 1977-1985 the brand name product in Italy by Biotec Biomedical Technologies of Bologna – ITALY.

Pacemakers were a Digikon O.E.M. production for the trading company of Milan Italy KONTRON already a distributor in Italy of Medtronic.

Biotec developed the first pacemaker VVIR based on physiological changes in thoracic impedance due to respiration. (Biotec RDP-3)

Biotec-Bologna was acquired by Medtronic in August 1985.”

Thank you Paolo!

 

The Australian Pacemaker: Telectronics (1965-1995)

Posted on by Posted in Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, History, Museum, St. Jude Medical, Telectronics (1965-1995)

Telectronics model 150B VVI pacemaker photographed by David Prutchi, Ph.D. www.implantable-device.comIn 1965, Australian medical device pioneer Noel Gray established Telectronics – Australia’s first manufacturing facility for producing pacemakers that were designed in-house.  Telectronics was an innovative developer, achieving some major successes in the early cardiac pacing field, for example, Telectronics’ leads allowed narrowing the pacing pulse to its current nominal of 0.5 milliseconds; encapsulating the pacemaker in titanium instead of epoxy; using a microplasma weld to join the two halves of the pacemaker capsule; creating one of the first rate-responsive ‘demand’ pacemakers; and isolating the pacemaker’s battery in a separate compartment to deal with the problem of leaking mercury-zinc batteries. Continue reading→

Elema-Schoenander and the Very First Human Implants of a Pacemaker in Sweden (1958) and Uruguay (1960)

Posted on by Posted in Bradycardia, Cardiac Pacing, CCC del Uruguay, Elema-Schonander (-1959), History, Museum, Pacesetter, Siemens-Elema (1959-1994), St. Jude Medical

First pacemaker to be implanted in a human patient (1958)

This is a picture of the first pacemaker to be implanted in a human patient.  It was developed by Dr. Rune Elmqvist (1906–1996), a physician by training, but working for the Swedish company Elema-Schonander as an engineer.   Dr. Elmqvist  developed the device in cooperation of Åke Senning, senior physician and cardiac surgeon at the Karolinska University Hospital in Solna, Sweden. Continue reading→