The Bakken does not have Hyman's pacemaker, but we have the papers he wrote about it. In Hyman's words:

"Finally on April 6, 1930, I received Grant No. 30-2 from the Witkin Foundation to explore the possibility of developing a practical machine to be used as an artificial pacemaker in experimental animals. Reduced to its simplest blueprint form, such an apparatus would include
(1) a small source of electric current, i.e., a common flashlight battery;
(2) an interrupter mechanism;
(3) a timing device;
(4) a method of regulating the duration of the injected current; and,
(5) a suitable insulated needle to carry the current only to the right atrial area of the heart. The instrument would, of course, be easily portable, and small enough to fit into a doctor's bag.

"The next 10 months were devoted to the assembly of such an apparatus ....

"By March 1, 1932 the artificial pacemaker had been used about 43 times, with a successful outcome in 14 cases."

A polished production model of Hyman's pacemaker was developed and tested by Siemens-Halske in Germany, and their American subsidiary Adlanco. It was tested by Dr. Siegfrid Koeppen, who apparently was not satisfied with it.

It's difficult to provide reliable data on Hyman's pacemaker. His articles give data only on animals, and most other commentary is not from a peer-reviewed journal. The proceedings of a conference held on February 16, 1942 contain a report of its successful short-term use in treating Stokes-Adams syndrome (the most common modern reason for needing a pacemaker).

Perhaps the fairest thing to say is that Hyman's pacemaker, like Otto von Guericke's electrostatic generator, was made before the world was ready for it.

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© The Bakken Updated: April 6, 2007