Robert Jarvik

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert Koffler Jarvik (born 11 May 1946) is an American scientist known for the Jarvik-7 artificial heart.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Artificial heart 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Biography

Jarvik was born in Houston, Texas to Dr. Norman Eugene Jarvik and Edythe Koffler Jarvik and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. ^[1]

Jarvik is a graduate of Syracuse University. He graduated with his MD in 1976 from the University of Utah but never completed a residency and is not licensed to practice medicine.

Jarvik is married to Parade magazine columnist Marilyn vos Savant, regarded as having the world's highest IQ. They live together in New York.^{[citation needed]}

Starting in 2006, Jarvik has been appearing as a spokesman for Pfizer Pharmaceutical's cholesterol medication Lipitor.

[edit] Artificial heart

Jarvik worked jointly with Dr.Willem Johan Kolff of University of Utah on the Jarvik-7.^{[citation needed]}

Fortunately, what came to be known as the Jarvik-7, the name associated with this development, was in fact the final product of the collaboration of many researchers who came before him, and their contributions to this project. Paul Winchell, Ventriloquist and much-loved voice and television series character actor, invented the original artificial heart. With the help and advice of Dr. Henry Heimlich, Winchell designed an artificial heart and built a prototype. He filed for a patent in 1956, which he received in 1963. Winchell donated his patent to the institution and Jarvik, using many of Winchell’s basic principles, took the device further, culminating with the Jarvik-7. One area of research was conducted at the Cleveland Clinic, which was later upgraded to the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, a new, independent arm of the hospital, where crucial elements of the fully implantable organ were produced.^{[citation needed]}

Dr William DeVries first implanted the Jarvik-7, into retired dentist Barney Clark, at the University of Utah on December 2, 1982. The next several implantations of the Jarvik 7 heart were conducted by Humana, a large health care insurance company. The second patient, Bill Schroeder, survived 620 days.^{[citation needed]}

Later, Jarvik tried forming Symbion, Inc. to manufacture the heart, but he lost the company in a hostile takeover. He then founded Jarvik Heart, Inc., and began work to create the Jarvik 2000, a lifetime ventricular assist device.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

       The artificial heart was not a self contained unit. It actually was quite complicated and required alot of tubing and wires outside of the body. This also required alot of effort and assistance for a patient to move about . This as well as maintainence and constant medical supervision. Patients could not exert much energy as this was just part of a mobile life support system. Patients still required medicine, not to mention heavy antibiotics as well as other drugs and treatments.
         The first patient actually had a few close calls in and out of the hospital before his eventual demise.
       Although develping a better understanding through study and research, Dr Jarvik eventually failed to reach his goal. The inventing of the artificial heart was really not invented totally by Dr Jarvik as stated in television commercials but he may hold some patents and or copyrights. Dr Jarvik pushed hard for it though, and had alot of help from others that didn't get or take the respect that he got and is still getting.
       Dr Jarvik became an instant household name and enjoyed his celebrity status and additional wealth and prestige thoroughly since well aired 1982 news coverage of the first artificial heart transplant. 
       Jarvik in the following years made several attempts and they were less covered as he dissapeared from the limelight until recent television commercial medicine endorsements were aired heavily.

[edit] External links

• Jarvik Heart Official website.
• Pfizer Launches New Lipitor Effort
• MSNBC article on Jarvik and Pfizer