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Ann Thorac Surg 2003;76:S2187
© 2003 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

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Supplement: Gibbon & His Heart-Lung Machine

Introduction

^a Department of Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

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In 1931, while serving a research fellowship in surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr John H. Gibbon, Jr, watched helplessly as a young woman died as a result of a massive pulmonary embolism. An inspiration occurred to him at that time, that if a machine existed that could temporarily take over the function of the heart and lungs, then the clot could be safely extracted and a life could be saved. Thus started an intensive investigatory effort that spanned more than 2 decades. Working initially with his wife Maly as his laboratory asssistant and then with colleagues and residents and engineers from the IBM Corporation, he ultimately developed the Gibbon heart-lung machine suitable for human use. On May 6, 1953, Dr Gibbon successfully closed . . . [Full Text of this Article]