Earl Elmer Bakken (January 10, 1924 – October 21, 2018) was an American engineer, businessman and philanthropist of Dutch and Norwegian American ancestry. He founded Medtronic, where he developed the first external, battery-operated, transistorized, wearable artificial pacemaker in 1957.[1][2]
Bakken was born on January 10, 1924, in Columbia Heights, Minnesota and was of Norwegian ancestry. Bakken had a long-held fascination with electricity and electronics. A self-described "nerd", Bakken designed a rudimentary electroshock weapon in school to fend off bullies. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1948 from the University of Minnesota. His electrical engineering education continued and he then obtained a Master's degree with a minor in mathematics also from the University of Minnesota.[1]
Career
Post-World War II hospitals were just starting to employ electronic equipment, but did not have staff to maintain and repair them. Sensing an opportunity, with his brother-in-law, Palmer Hermundslie, he formed Medtronic (a portmanteau of "medical" and "electronic") in a small garage, primarily working with the University of Minnesota hospital.
In the 1950s, Dr. C. Walton Lillehei was performing life-saving surgery on children with blue baby syndrome. That surgery often left the children needing to be temporarily attached to a pacemaker. The pacemakers at the time were large devices that required their own carts and relied on wall current for power. As a result of a power blackout on October 31, 1957, one of Dr. Lillehei's young patients died. Dr. Lillehei, who had worked with Bakken before, asked him the next day if he could solve the problem. Four weeks after finding a circuit diagram for a metronome in Popular Electronics, Bakken delivered a battery-powered transistorized pacemaker about the size of a few decks of cards to Dr. Lillehei. After successfully testing the hand-made device in the laboratory, Bakken returned to create a refined model for patients. However, much to his astonishment, when he came in the next day, he found the pacemaker already in use on a patient. (The Food and Drug Administration did not start regulating medical devices until 1976.)[3]
Over the next several years, Bakken and Medtronic worked with other doctors to develop fully implantable pacemakers, but they also veered toward bankruptcy. He borrowed money that kept Medtronic going, but the bankruptcy near-miss drove Bakken to develop the Medtronic Mission, which still guides the company.[4] The mission helped the young company to stay focused on areas where it could truly help patients.
Bakken retired from Medtronic in 1989 and moved to a 9-acre estate in the Kona District of Hawaii he called Bakken Hale,[5] but still returned to the company several times a year to meet new employees and explain the Medtronic Mission to them in person.
In 1996 he helped to dedicate the North Hawaii Community Hospital and was active there for some time afterward, working to combine Eastern and Western approaches to medicine to develop a more holistic approach to health care.[6]
In 2001, Medtronic started the construction of its new European distribution center in Heerlen, The Netherlands. The street on which the facility was built is named after Bakken.
Bakken died at his Hawaii home on October 21, 2018, at the age of 94.[7]
^ abSpencer, William H. (2001). Hurst, J. Willis; Fye, W. Bruce (eds.). "Earl E. Bakken". Clinical Cardiology. 24 (5): 422–423. doi:10.1002/clc.4960240515. ISSN 1932-8737. PMC6655043.
^Mykleseth, Kathryn (2015-01-07). "Supersize solar setup underway on Big Isle". Honolulu Star Advertiser. Oahu Publications d.b.a. Staradvertiser.com. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
^"Ability Magazine: Earl Bakken Interview with Chet Cooper" (2009)". Retrieved 2012-04-03.
^Medtronic founder Earl Bakken Has Died at His Home In Hawaii
Bibliography
Borghi L. (2015) "Heart Matters. The Collaboration Between Surgeons and Engineers in the Rise of Cardiac Surgery". In: Pisano R. (eds) A Bridge between Conceptual Frameworks. History of Mechanism and Machine Science, vol 27. Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 53-68
External links
Earl Bakken's website
The Bakken Museum homepage
Works by or about Earl Bakken in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
February 21, 2023
earl, bakken, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, february, 201. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Earl Bakken news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message Earl Elmer Bakken January 10 1924 October 21 2018 was an American engineer businessman and philanthropist of Dutch and Norwegian American ancestry He founded Medtronic where he developed the first external battery operated transistorized wearable artificial pacemaker in 1957 1 2 Earl BakkenBakken in 2007Born 1924 01 10 January 10 1924Columbia Heights Minnesota United StatesDiedOctober 21 2018 2018 10 21 aged 94 Kona District Hawaii United StatesNationalityAmericanEducationBSEE and MSEE from the University of MinnesotaKnown forfounding Medtronic inventing the wearable portable pacemaker founding Bakken MuseumEngineering career Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Career 3 See also 4 References 5 Bibliography 6 External linksEarly life and education EditBakken was born on January 10 1924 in Columbia Heights Minnesota and was of Norwegian ancestry Bakken had a long held fascination with electricity and electronics A self described nerd Bakken designed a rudimentary electroshock weapon in school to fend off bullies He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1948 from the University of Minnesota His electrical engineering education continued and he then obtained a Master s degree with a minor in mathematics also from the University of Minnesota 1 Career EditPost World War II hospitals were just starting to employ electronic equipment but did not have staff to maintain and repair them Sensing an opportunity with his brother in law Palmer Hermundslie he formed Medtronic a portmanteau of medical and electronic in a small garage primarily working with the University of Minnesota hospital In the 1950s Dr C Walton Lillehei was performing life saving surgery on children with blue baby syndrome That surgery often left the children needing to be temporarily attached to a pacemaker The pacemakers at the time were large devices that required their own carts and relied on wall current for power As a result of a power blackout on October 31 1957 one of Dr Lillehei s young patients died Dr Lillehei who had worked with Bakken before asked him the next day if he could solve the problem Four weeks after finding a circuit diagram for a metronome in Popular Electronics Bakken delivered a battery powered transistorized pacemaker about the size of a few decks of cards to Dr Lillehei After successfully testing the hand made device in the laboratory Bakken returned to create a refined model for patients However much to his astonishment when he came in the next day he found the pacemaker already in use on a patient The Food and Drug Administration did not start regulating medical devices until 1976 3 Over the next several years Bakken and Medtronic worked with other doctors to develop fully implantable pacemakers but they also veered toward bankruptcy He borrowed money that kept Medtronic going but the bankruptcy near miss drove Bakken to develop the Medtronic Mission which still guides the company 4 The mission helped the young company to stay focused on areas where it could truly help patients Bakken retired from Medtronic in 1989 and moved to a 9 acre estate in the Kona District of Hawaii he called Bakken Hale 5 but still returned to the company several times a year to meet new employees and explain the Medtronic Mission to them in person In 1996 he helped to dedicate the North Hawaii Community Hospital and was active there for some time afterward working to combine Eastern and Western approaches to medicine to develop a more holistic approach to health care 6 In 2001 Medtronic started the construction of its new European distribution center in Heerlen The Netherlands The street on which the facility was built is named after Bakken Bakken died at his Hawaii home on October 21 2018 at the age of 94 7 See also EditBakken MuseumReferences Edit a b Spencer William H 2001 Hurst J Willis Fye W Bruce eds Earl E Bakken Clinical Cardiology 24 5 422 423 doi 10 1002 clc 4960240515 ISSN 1932 8737 PMC 6655043 Hebrew University of Jerusalem Institute of Chemistry Earl E Bakken Archived 2007 12 05 at the Wayback Machine Paul A Iaizzo 13 November 2015 Handbook of Cardiac Anatomy Physiology and Devices Springer pp 449 ISBN 978 3 319 19464 6 Medtronic s Patient Focussed Mission medtronic com Mykleseth Kathryn 2015 01 07 Supersize solar setup underway on Big Isle Honolulu Star Advertiser Oahu Publications d b a Staradvertiser com Retrieved 21 June 2016 Ability Magazine Earl Bakken Interview with Chet Cooper 2009 Retrieved 2012 04 03 Medtronic founder Earl Bakken Has Died at His Home In HawaiiBibliography EditBorghi L 2015 Heart Matters The Collaboration Between Surgeons and Engineers in the Rise of Cardiac Surgery In Pisano R eds A Bridge between Conceptual Frameworks History of Mechanism and Machine Science vol 27 Springer Dordrecht pp 53 68External links EditEarl Bakken s website The Bakken Museum homepage Works by or about Earl Bakken in libraries WorldCat catalog Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Earl Bakken amp oldid 1076497517, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
