Alois Langer
| Alois A. Langer | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 24, 1945 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Education | MIT, Carnegie Mellon |
| Occupation | Inventor, Scientist, Entrepreneur |
| Known for | Co-Inventor of the Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD) |
| Awards | Induction into the Inventor’s Hall of Fame (2002) |
Alois A. Langer (born February 24, 1945, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American biomedical engineer best known as one of the co-inventors of the Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD).
Langer was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2002 for his contribution to developing the ICD. He studied electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and completed his Ph.D thesis at Carnegie Mellon University. In 1972, Langer became the chief biomedical engineer at MedRad Inc. and started work on the ICD project. In 1980, he oversaw the final testing and implantation of the device into a human patient. In 1990, Langer founded Cardiac Telecom Corporation and engaged in the development and marketing of telephonic cardiac monitoring systems. Langer currently lives in Forest Hills, Pennsylvania and works part-time as a Consultant.
Alois A. Langer, son of Westinghouse researcher and inventor also named Alois Langer, was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father encouraged him to do something with his life that would work for the benefit of the people. Langer went study electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he graduated in 1967. After graduating from MIT, he pursued a combined PhD in electrical engineering and biotechnology at Carnegie Mellon University. He completed his thesis on multidimensional electrocardiographic analysis.
In 1972 Langer was hired by a company in Pittsburgh called Medrad Inc to work on the ICD project. The company president, Dr. Steve Heilman, had previously met with Baltimore cardiologist Dr. Michael Mirowski to discuss the possibility of developing the ICD. Mirowski had already patented the device and needed a company which would perfect it and manufacture it. Medrad took up the challenge of developing the ICD. Given Langer’s experience in electrocardiographic analysis and electrical engineering he was placed as the chief biomedical engineer of the ICD team. The fourth and last member of the initial team was Baltimore cardiopulmonary researcher Morton Mower.
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