Heart Valves: The beginning
The first heart valve successfully implanted into a human heart was the Starr-Edwards Valve. It was based on a design that did not look smooth or particularly pleasant, but due to its simplistic nature, it performed successfully while all others failed miserably. The following is a picture of the original Starr-Edwards valve.
As you can see, it is not a device of extreme sophistication or complex design, but it still got the job done. In the case of the first successful trial, in 1960, of this valve, the patient died fifteen years later, not from heart related issues, but from falling from a ladder while painting his house. The article goes on to talk about the two men who almost single handedly created the field of biomedical engineering and biomedical implements. It goes into depth about the inventor, Lowell Edwards, who was in his 60s, and had already retired from a successful career as an engineer. The surgeon who played a key role in this process was Albert Starr who was an instructor in his field. The article also talks in depth about the selection process that was used for trial patients, only those who were on the verge of death due to Tuberculosis or related heart diseases were considered. Fortunately thanks to the foresight of the brilliant engineer and the steady hands of the surgeon, these individuals were granted a reprieve on death, and were given the chance to continue their life. More importantly, their continued life was of a high quality as well. This article stands out to me for so many reasons, it shows that for every problem the solution does not always need to be some multimillion dollar fancy tool, but just something that will get the job done. Also, the devices that we make do not need to be sleek looking fancy gadgets, they simply need to get the job done, and improve the life of those who receive them. Finally, I did not discuss it in the summary above, but Lowell had a perseverance about his inventions that we as engineers following in his footsteps would do well to imitate. That even in the face of overwhelming odds and many setbacks, that we should never give up, and that perseverance will be rewarded.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=325574&blobtype=pdf
As you can see, it is not a device of extreme sophistication or complex design, but it still got the job done. In the case of the first successful trial, in 1960, of this valve, the patient died fifteen years later, not from heart related issues, but from falling from a ladder while painting his house. The article goes on to talk about the two men who almost single handedly created the field of biomedical engineering and biomedical implements. It goes into depth about the inventor, Lowell Edwards, who was in his 60s, and had already retired from a successful career as an engineer. The surgeon who played a key role in this process was Albert Starr who was an instructor in his field. The article also talks in depth about the selection process that was used for trial patients, only those who were on the verge of death due to Tuberculosis or related heart diseases were considered. Fortunately thanks to the foresight of the brilliant engineer and the steady hands of the surgeon, these individuals were granted a reprieve on death, and were given the chance to continue their life. More importantly, their continued life was of a high quality as well. This article stands out to me for so many reasons, it shows that for every problem the solution does not always need to be some multimillion dollar fancy tool, but just something that will get the job done. Also, the devices that we make do not need to be sleek looking fancy gadgets, they simply need to get the job done, and improve the life of those who receive them. Finally, I did not discuss it in the summary above, but Lowell had a perseverance about his inventions that we as engineers following in his footsteps would do well to imitate. That even in the face of overwhelming odds and many setbacks, that we should never give up, and that perseverance will be rewarded.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=325574&blobtype=pdf
posted by William Burkes at 5:59 PM
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