The development of the heart-lung machine made repair of intracardiac lesions possible. One of the key requirements of the heart-lung machine was anticoagulation. Heparin was discovered by a medical student

Jay McLean

working in the laboratory of Dr. William Howell at Johns Hopkins. John Gibbon contributed more to the successful development of the heart-lung machine than anyone else. His interest began as a young doctor since 1930s. Gibbon’s work on the heart-lung machine took place over the next 20 years in laboratories at Massachusetts General Hospital

the University of Pennsylvania

and Thomas Jefferson University. In 1937

he reported the first successful demonstration that life could be maintained by an artificial heart and lung

and the native heart and lungs could resume function. After World War Ⅱ

Dr. Gibbon resumed his work and received support from IBM to build a heart-lung machine on a more sophisticated scale. Eventually

the team developed a larger oxygenator that the IBM engineers incorporated into a new machine. On May 6

1953

Dr. Gibbon performed the first successful operation using an extracorporeal circuit on an 18-year-old girl with a large atrial septa1 defect. It wasn’t until 1958

when a system that involved bubbling blood was perfected

that "heart-lung" machines came of age. Despite so many chill winds and cold rains

"heart-lung" machine

the budding rose of surgery

was eventually blossom brightly in the radiant rays of sunlight. John Gibbon’s dream had become a reality. His work serves as an important example to surgeons who are struggling today with the surgical therapies and technologies of tomorrow.