Michael Ellis DeBakey

Michael Ellis DeBakey (1908-2008), American surgeon, who pioneered in the development of an artificial heart. Born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, he received an M.D. degree from Tulane University in 1932 and taught surgery there from 1937 to 1948. He then took a position at the Baylor University school of medicine and in 1969 was appointed president.

DeBakey, already widely known for his work in cardiovascular and heart surgery, achieved a major breakthrough in 1966 by successfully implanting a booster pump in persons seriously ill with cardiac disease. The DeBakey device, about half the size of a grapefruit, can take over as much as 75 percent of the work done by the left ventricle, while the heart continues to receive blood from the lungs. The device is removed after the patient’s heart is able to function effectively without the pump. DeBakey died at age 99 from natural causes.