Earl Bakken’s prosperous career began with a love of the movie ‘Frankenstein.’ While he appreciated the monster itself, he more so admired the mad scientist behind its awakening. Still only a child, Bakken channeled his admiration into engineering, building his own working phone network, a radio from a crystal set, and a 5-foot-tall talking robot.
At age 25, his love of technology and his penchant for tinkering persisted, and on April 29, 1949, he opened a shop with his then brother-in-law to repair and modify hospital equipment. It was a field at the time unfounded and unregulated but much needed.
Bakken and his brother-in-law set to work in an unheated, 600-square-foot garage. “Even by startup standards, the place was pretty crude,” Bakken wrote. “On the positive side, the price was right. [The garage owners] didn’t charge the company rent.”
Soon, Bakken began collaborating with the doctors it served, custom-making devices for specific patients and treatments. One of these doctors, Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, approached Bakken with a particular problem: an infant using a pacemaker had died when the power went out during a storm. At the time, pacemakers were huge – about the size of an air conditioning unit – and had to be plugged in constantly.
Bakken responded with designs for a battery-powered pacemaker that patients could wear on their body, directly connected to the heart through a wire under the skin. Just a few weeks later, Bakken’s device was being used to successfully treat Dr. Lillehei’s patients.
Today, more than three million people rely on pacemakers inspired by Earl’s invention. In fact, Bakken himself relied on a pacemaker, receiving his first implant in 2001 and a second in 2009.
Bakken’s revolutionary pacemaker was just the first of many discoveries that would change the face of modern medicine for the benefit of patients everywhere. Bakken would help introduce hundreds of innovative technologies, and his startup Medtronic would grow into the largest medical technology company in the world, with a global reach in more than 140 countries.
“We didn’t set out to be the world’s largest medical device company,” Bakken said. “We just wanted to make a lasting positive change in patients’ lives.”
Bakken’s dream has certainly been recognized. As a whole, the medical technology industry has helped add more than five years to U.S. life expectancy and has reduced mortality across a host of conditions, like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer.
Still, the road to perfect health is never-ending. Bakken’s legacy will help fuel even greater advancements in medical technology. AdvaMed, on behalf of the entire medtech industry, celebrates that legacy and will continue to honor Bakken’s spirit through its patient-centered mission and body of work.
Read more about Earl Bakken’s life and legacy.