Heart-Lung Machine
Illustration
By: John H. Gibbons Jr.
Date: March 26, 1955
Source: Gibbons, John H., Jr. "Heart-Lung Machine." Bettmann/ CORBIS. Image no. U1279080INP. Available online at http://www.corbis.com (accessed February 20, 2003).
About the Author: John H. Gibbons Jr. (1903–1973) invented the heart-lung machine in 1952 while a surgeon at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first used the machine on May 6, 1953, while closing a hole in a girl's heart. He deposited his plans for the machine in the archives of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Introduction
In 1956, heart disease was the leading killer of Americans. It killed over a third more men than women and accounted for double the deaths from cancer, the second leading killer of Americans.
Medicine had made little progress against heart...
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1950's Medicine and Health Primary Sources
The 1950's: Primary Sources
