In
business, companies fight to be the first to market with new product ideas. Creative
research and development professionals strive to invent and create the product
of the future. However, not all inventions are the result of hard work and
dedication. History has proven errors or accidents can lead to some of the most
innovative products. One tremendously successful lifesaving device, the implantable
pacemaker was the result of one of these “accidents”.
While researching an electronic device to monitor the
heart’s signal, inventor William Greatbatch made a mistake. While constructing a
circuit, he accidentally substituted a resistor much larger than the initial circuit
required. Greatbatch realized the resultant circuit provided a repeatable
electric pulse at regular intervals. Greatbatch had earned a bachelors degree
in electrical engineering from Cornell University. He continued his education
at the University of Buffalo to earn his masters degree in the same field. Due
to his educational background, he understood the implications of his discovery.
Greatbatch went on to continue research on the continued
electric pulse. Initially realized in 1956, similar products began to hit the
market in 1958. These competing products required significantly larger power
sources and were not designed for being implanted inside patients. Greatbatch quit
his job and spent three weeks in his barn developing the first prototype. This
prototype was a success.
Inspired
by his breakthrough, Greatbatch dedicated the following two years of his life
on designing a streamlined concept. Working from home, he developed a device capable
of being implanted inside patients. In 1960, the pacemaker was patented. The
same year, the device was successfully implanted into a human patient. The
following year, Medtronic bought the license for the device and began to bring the
device to the mass market.
Greatbatch
was not satisfied with his early successes in his device. He continued
inventing to modify the concept from an “always on” pacemaker to one that
detected the need and responded appropriately. Initial implanted devices utilized
a battery that lasted approximately 18 months. In 1970, Greatbatch founded his
company, Wilson Greatbatch Ltd, dedicated to extend the battery life of his
initial inventions.
Greatbatch’s
initial goal was to save 10,000 lives per year. In 2011, 460,000 devices were
implanted. This innovation, while an accident, continues to be instrumental in
the medical industry. The story of Wilso Greatbatch illustrates not every
innovation is planned. Even accidents can change the world for the better.
 |
| X-ray of ICD from author's first implant in 2007 |
Authors note: In 2007,
Logan was implanted with a pacemaker. This pacemaker helps mitigate the risk of
a genetic heart syndrome, existent since birth. Since implantation, the device
has triggered on three separate occasions, each time providing life-saving assistance.
The author owes a debt of gratitude to accidental inventions.
References
Kermode-Scott, B. (2011).
Wilson greatbatch. BMJ : British Medical Journal (Online), 343http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d6765
SURPRISE EFFECTS. (2018,
Nov 24). The Advertiser https://coloradotech.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/surprise-effects/docview/2137449698/se-2?accountid=144789
Wilson Greatbatch.
(2008). In B. Narins (Ed.), Notable Scientists from 1900 to the Present. Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1619001952/BIC?u=tec_u_online&sid=summon&xid=4b1567d7
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