It took Earl Bakken, the founder of Medtronic Plc, about four weeks in 1957 to craft the first battery-powered pacemaker. Almost 60 years later, Medtronic is racing crosstown rival St. Jude Medical Inc. to sell a futuristic model so small that it rests inside the heart itself.
It’s a breakthrough that may revive the staid U.S. market for the devices, whose design hasn’t changed much in the past 50 years. Unlike traditional pacemakers implanted under the skin that can be seen in silhouette, the tiny experimental model is slipped on a catheter through the femoral artery and docked, in its entirety, inside the right ventricle. It operates there steadily and silently, without electrical wires that can break or get infected.
Hey, check out all the engineering jobs. Post your resume today!
