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{{Short description|American engineer and inventor (1919–2011)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Wilson Greatbatch
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1919|9|6|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2011|9|27|1919|9|6|df=yes}}
| alma_mater = [[Cornell University]]<br>[[University at Buffalo]]
| occupation = Engineer
}}
'''Wilson Greatbatch''' (September 6, 1919 &ndash; September 27, 2011) was an [[Americans|American]] [[engineer]] and  pioneering inventor. He held more than 325 patents and was a [[List of National Inventors Hall of Fame inductees#G|member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame]] and a recipient of the [[Lemelson-MIT Prize#1996|Lemelson–MIT Prize]]<ref name="bbcobit"/> and the [[National Medal of Technology and Innovation]] (1990).

== Early years ==

Greatbatch was born in [[Buffalo, New York]] and attended public grade school at [[West Seneca, New York|West Seneca]] High School.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ethw.org/Oral-History:Wilson_Greatbatch|title=Oral-History:Wilson Greatbatch - Engineering and Technology History Wiki|website=ethw.org|language=en|access-date=2017-12-30}}</ref><ref name="nihof"/> He entered military service and served during World War II, becoming an aviation chief radioman before receiving an [[honorable discharge]] in 1945.<ref name="nihof"/> He attended [[Cornell University]] as part of the GI Bill, graduating with a B.E.E. in [[electrical engineering]] in 1950; he received a master's degree from the [[University at Buffalo, The State University of New York|University of Buffalo]] in 1957. Wilson loved fiddling with objects and this would lead to great things.<ref name="nihof"/>

== The Chardack-Greatbatch pacemaker ==

The ''Chardack-Greatbatch'' pacemaker used Mallory mercuric oxide-zinc cells ([[mercury battery]]) for its energy source, driving a two transistor, transformer coupled [[blocking oscillator]] circuit, all encapsulated in [[epoxy]] resin, then coupled to electrodes placed into the [[myocardium]] of the patient's heart.  This [[patented]] innovation led to the [[Medtronic]] company of [[Minneapolis]] commencing manufacture and further development of [[artificial cardiac pacemaker]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.magnet.fsu.edu/education/tutorials/museum/pacemaker.html |title=National High Magnetic Field Laboratory |access-date=2011-09-28 |archive-date=2014-10-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011002859/http://www.magnet.fsu.edu/education/tutorials/museum/pacemaker.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== The Greatbatch lithium-iodide battery cell ==
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2011}}
In 1968, [[Catalyst Research Corporation]] of [[Baltimore, Maryland]] developed and patented a [[lithium battery]] cell {{US patent|4049890}}. The cell used two elements at near ends of the [[electrochemical]] scale, causing a high [[voltage]] of 2.8V and an energy density near the physical maximum. Unfortunately, it had an internal [[Electrical impedance|impedance]] which limited its current load to under 0.1 mA and was thus considered useless.

Greatbatch sought to introduce this invention into the pacemaker industry, which could readily use a high impedance battery. The early work was conducted in a rented area of the former [[Wurlitzer]] [[North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory|Organ Factory]] in [[North Tonawanda, New York]]. [[Ralph Mead]] is understood to have headed the early electrochemical development.

Greatbatch introduced the developed ''WG1'' cell to [[Artificial pacemaker|pacemaker]] developers in 1971, and was met with limited enthusiasm. On July 9, 1974, Manuel A. Villafaña and [[Anthony Adducci]] founders of [[Cardiac Pacemakers Inc.]]([[Guidant]]) in St. Paul, Minnesota, manufactured the world's first pacemaker with a lithium anode and a lithium-iodide electrolyte solid-state battery.<ref>{{cite web|title=Metal-enclosed cardiac pacer with solid-state power source|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US3822707?oq=3822707}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Pioneers of the Medical Device Industry|url=http://www.mnhs.org/collections/medTech/org_cardiac_pacemakers.php|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society}}</ref> The lithium-iodide cell manufactured by Greatbatch is now the standard cell for pacemakers, having the [[energy density]], low self-discharge, small size and reliability needed.

In the cell as developed for cardiac pacemaker application, the [[anode]] is [[lithium]] and the [[cathode]] a proprietary composition of [[iodine]] and poly-2-vinylpyridine, neither of which is electrically conductive. However, after processing by mixing and heating to ~ 150&nbsp;°C for 72 hours the components react with each other to form an electrically conductive viscous liquid which, while still molten, is poured into the cell where it cools to form a solid. When the liquid contacts the lithium anode it creates a monomolecular layer of semiconducting crystalline lithium iodide. As the cell is discharged by the current load of the pacemaker, the reaction between the lithium anode and iodine cathode forms a growing barrier of lithium iodide, This is [[resistive]], and causes the terminal voltage of the cell to decrease approximately as an inverse function of the volume of the barrier. Pacemaker designers use this characteristic to permit detection of incipient 'end of life' of the pacemaker's lithium cell.

== Philanthropy ==

Greatbatch donated funds to [[Houghton College]] in New York to create a graduate program in music.  The Houghton College Center for the Arts (CFA) was designed with his donations to include a concert hall, art gallery, multi-floor gathering space, and various choir and instrumental practice rooms. It was subsequently named the Greatbatch School of Music after him. Houghton College assisted Greatbatch in his research, when he was unable to generate support, providing him with lab space and research assistance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://theaquilareport.com/wilson-greatbatch-presbyterian-elder-and-pacemaker-inventor-dies/|title = Wilson Greatbatch, Presbyterian Elder and Pacemaker Inventor, Dies|date = October 2011}}</ref>

In 2009, Wilson and Eleanor Greatbatch donated approximately $10 million to create a modern glass reception and interpretive pavilion, called the ''Eleanor and Wilson Greatbatch Pavilion'', separate from the [[Darwin D. Martin House]] Complex. It was designed by [[Toshiko Mori]], chair of the department of architecture at [[Harvard]]'s Graduate School of Design.<ref>{{cite news|title=Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House is becoming one of Buffalo's most popular tourist attractions|url=https://windsorstar.com/travel/Frank+Lloyd+Wright+Martin+House+becoming+Buffalo+most+popular/11182448/story.html|access-date=9 October 2015|publisher=Windsor Star|date=July 2, 2015|archive-date=21 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821191913/http://www.windsorstar.com/travel/Frank+Lloyd+Wright+Martin+House+becoming+Buffalo+most+popular/11182448/story.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Death ==

Wilson Greatbatch died at the age of 92 on September 27, 2011.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/business/wilson-greatbatch-pacemaker-inventor-dies-at-92.html | work=The New York Times | first=Barnaby | last=Feder | title=Wilson Greatbatch, Pacemaker Inventor, Dies at 92 | date=September 28, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/sep/29/wilson-greatbatch | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Caroline | last=Richmond | title=Wilson Greatbatch obituary | date=September 29, 2011}}</ref>
Greatbatch served as an elder at Clarence [[Presbyterian]] Church, where he also sang in the church choir and taught Sunday school.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heartacademy.org/phpwcms/index.php?remembering-wilson-greatbatch |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021040928/http://www.heartacademy.org/phpwcms/index.php?remembering-wilson-greatbatch |archive-date=2014-10-21 |title=Remembering Wilson Greatbatch {{!}} No 4 {{!}} Pagetitle}}</ref>

== References ==

=== Specific references ===
<references>

<ref name="bbcobit">{{cite news| url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15085056| title= Implantable pacemaker inventor Wilson Greatbatch dies | date= 27 September 2011 | publisher= [[BBC News]] | access-date= 2011-09-28}}</ref>
<ref name="nihof">{{cite web | url= http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/70.html | title= Wilson Greatbatch | work= Inventor profile | publisher= [[National Inventors Hall of Fame]] | access-date= 2011-09-28 | url-status= dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111015162329/http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/70.html | archive-date= 2011-10-15 }}</ref>

</references>

=== General references ===
{{refbegin}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030318182651/http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/greatbatch.html Biography of Greatbatch at MIT website]
* {{Cite web |url=http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/ilives/lecture09.html |title=Making Hearts Beat |access-date=2008-04-19 |last=Adam |first=John |date=February 5, 1999 |work=Innovative Lives - The Smithsonian's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421224221/http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/ilives/lecture09.html |archive-date=April 21, 2008 }}
* {{Cite web|url=http://invention.smithsonian.org/video |title=Wilson Greatbatch Makes Hearts Beat |date=October 8, 1996 |work=Prototype Online: Inventive Voices podcast - The Smithsonian's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}
* [http://www.Greatbatch.com Greatbatch.com Company Website]
* Beck H, Boden WE, Patibandla S, Kireyev D, Gutpa V, Campagna F, Cain ME, Marine JE.''50th Anniversary of the first successful permanent pacemaker implantation in the United States: historical review and future directions.'' Am J Cardiol. 2010 Sep 15;106(6):810-8.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* {{ cite patent |country = US |number = 3057356 |status = patent |title = Medical cardiac pacemaker |pubdate = October 9, 1962 |gdate = |fdate = |pridate = |inventor = Wilson Greatbatch}}
* [http://www.vega.org.uk/video/programme/248 A video interview with Wilson Greatbatch] from vega.org.uk 
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15085056 Implantable pacemaker inventor Wilson Greatbatch dies] from BBC 28 September 2011
* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/wilson-greatbatch-engineer-who-invented-implantable-pacemaker-dies-at-92/2011/09/28/gIQAKEtp5K_story.html] <big>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/wilson-greatbatch-engineer-who-invented-implantable-pacemaker-dies-at-92/2011/09/28/gIQAKEtp5K_story.html Washington Post Obituary]</big> 
* {{Find a Grave|77202161}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120915133544/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/cia-museum/experience-the-collection/index.html#!/artifact/15 Battery at the CIA Museum, CIA.gov]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Greatbatch, Wilson}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:Engineers from Buffalo, New York]]
[[Category:20th-century American inventors]]
[[Category:American Presbyterians]]
[[Category:Cornell University College of Engineering alumni]]
[[Category:Lemelson–MIT Prize]]
[[Category:National Medal of Technology recipients]]
[[Category:Medtronic]]
[[Category:University at Buffalo alumni]]