Rune Elmqvist developed the first implantable pacemaker at the prompting of Dr. Åke Senning, a surgeon at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, in 1958. It had a pulse amplitude of 2 volts and a pulse width of 1.5 milliseconds, at a constant rate of 70-80 impulses a minute. The first implant was on October 8, 1958, into a patient named Arne Larsson who lived until December 28, 2001. Arne had about two dozen pacemakers in his extended lifetime.

The new silicon transistors (more efficient than the older germanium transistors) were used. The power source was two NiCad battery cells. The entire unit was encapsulated in epoxy resin. Its diameter was approx. 55 mm, and it was 16 mm thick. The first units had two polyethylene-coated twisted stainless suture thread electrodes. The ends of these were fixed to the heart, and served as electrodes. (Soon it became apparent that stainless thread was not durable enough. The heart beats perhaps 100,000 times a day, and flexes the lead with each beat.)

The batteries in this pacemaker had only a limited charge. A radio loop antenna was included in the pacemaker, and the batteries were recharged weekly by beaming radio energy through the skin to the pacemaker antenna.

Museum Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10 to 5
Thursdays 10 am to  8pm 
Closed Major Holidays
Library Hours: Monday - Friday 9 to 4:30

Admission: $7 Adults; $5 Students & Seniors; Children 3 and under are FREE!

© The Bakken Updated: April 6, 2007