Mayo Foundation Archives, Mayo Clinic

200 First Street SW; Plummer Building - 3rd Floor, Rochester, Minnesota, 55905

(507) 284-2585

507-266-2295

Renee Ziemer, Coordinator, Mayo Historical Unit

ziemer.renee@mayo.edu

The resources of the Archives are open to all members of the Mayo community, and upon approval to others interested in the history of the Mayo Foundation. The collections may be accessed from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday to Friday.

The Mayo Foundation Archives documents and supports the life of the Mayo Foundation through its collections, programs, and services. The Archival collections contain official records of the Foundation and its administrative offices, official and unofficial publications, departmental annual reports, committee minutes, records of organizations, as well as personal papers and memorabilia pertaining to the Mayo Foundation and its programs and people.

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Collections

Gibbon-type Heart-lung Bypass Machine, 1954.

Unaccessioned

One object

The heart-lung bypass machine was designed to divert blood flow around the heart to create an operative field free of blood for the time required to repair defects in the heart. It was employed in some of the first successful operations on human hearts conducted with the aid of mechanical pump oxygenator systems. The machine was built largely in 1954 in the Section of Engineering of the Mayo Clinic under the direction of Richard E. Jones. The basic apparatus was originated by Dr. John H. Gibbon, of Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and built for him by International Business Machines, Inc. Dr. Gibbons placed the plans and specifications of his apparatus at the disposal of the research and clinical team of the Mayo Clinic. Specifications for the modifications and changes incorporated in the Mayo Clinic apparatus were based on work carried out by Doctors David E. Donald, and Dr. H.J.C. Swan, research assistants, Dr. Harry G. Harshbarger, a fellow in surgery; Dr. John W. Kirklin, head of a section of Surgery; and Dr. Earl H. Wood, of the Section of Physiology of the Mayo Clinic. Work in the experimental laboratory, required before the apparatus could be ready for use on humans, was carried out by Dr. Peter S. Hetzel, research assistant, Dr. Robert T. Patrick, of the Section of Anesthesiology and Intravenous Therapy, and Drs. Kirklin, Wood, Donald and Harshberger. The bypass machine was first employed at the Mayo Clinic on a five year old girl on March 23, 1955. Dr. Kirklin was the cardiac surgeon, assisted by Dr. Harshbarger. The anesthesiologist was Dr. Robert Patrick. Dr. Donald and Jim Fellows operated the heart-lung machine. Drs. Wood and Hetzel collected the physiological data in a separate recording room.

Gibbon-type heart-lung bypass machine, 1954.

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Mayo Clinic Subject Vertical Files, c. 1900 and ongoing.

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Mayo Clinic Subject Vertical Files, c. 1900 and ongoing.

580.01/01

22 linear feet

The subject file was initiated in the 1960s by Archives staff.

This growing collection of materials includes articles, newspaper clippings, photos, correspondence, and reprints. Subjects related to artificial organs include:

• Gibbon's Heart-Lung Machine (1954)
• Artificial Larynx (1931), Dr. Charles Sheard
• Artificial Kidney Machines (1954- )

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