Robert Fischell

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Dr. Robert Fischell (b. 1930 - ) is a medical inventor, the holder of more than 200 U.S. and foreign patents, and the creator of several biotechnology companies. Fischell has been praised for an ability to see across technologies and sciences. He worked at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory full time for 25 years, and part time for an additional 13 years. His achievements include the creation of a 16-satellite system called Transit that was a key precursor to GPS. He invented the first rechargeable pacemaker (Pacesetter Systems, Inc.) and helped miniaturize the implantable cardiac defibrillator which made it feasible to implant the device in a patient's chest instead of the abdomen. He is also credited with the invention of the implantable insulin pump (MiniMed, spun off from Pacesetter Systems, Inc. in 1985), numerous coronary stents used to open clogged arteries (IsoStent, Inc. purchased by Cordis, in turn purchased by Johnson & Johnson), and two extraordinary feedback systems that provide early warning of epileptic seizures (NeuroPace, Inc.) and heart attacks (Angel Medical Systems, Inc. where his son David Fischell is the CEO). Fischell recently donated $30 million to the University of Maryland College Park Foundation to establish a bioengineering department and an institute for biomedical devices at the James Clark School of Engineering.

In 2005, he was awarded the TED Prize, receiving $100,000 and three wishes, including a braintrust on medical liability and the successful design of a device to cure migraines.

[edit] External links

• Duke University Biography
• Video clip of Dr. Fischell accepting TEDPrize and discussing new technologies to save lives