Rune Elmqvist

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Rune Elmqvist (1906-1996) developed the first implantable pacemaker in 1958, working under the direction of Åke Senning, senior physician and cardiac surgeon at the Karolinska University Hospital in Solna, Sweden.

Elmqvist initially worked as a medical doctor (having trained in Lund), but later worked as an engineer and inventor. In 1940, he become Head of Development at Elema-Schönander, a company which later became Siemens-Elema. Siemens-Elema's pacemaker operations were sold to the American company Pacesetter in 1994, which in turn was subsequently sold to St Jude Medical.

In 1931, Elmqvist developed the first ECG printer, and in 1957 he received an honorary doctorate.