Earl Wood

Professor Earl H. Wood, MD, PhD
Earl Wood in his office at the Mayo Clinic with an inset photo from 1946 showing him in Heidelberg, as part of operation paperclip, seeking to recruit German scientists to work in the United States.
Born	(1912-01-01)1 January 1912 Mankato, USA
Died	18 March 2009(2009-03-18) (aged 97) Rochester, Minnesota
Residence	Rochester, Minnesota
Citizenship	United States
Nationality	United States
Fields	Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Aerospace Medicine and Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Dynamics
Institutions	Mayo Clinic Rochester, Minnesota
Alma mater	Macalester College University of Minnesota
Thesis	The Distribution of Electrolytes and Water Between Cardiac Muscle and Blood Serum with Special Reference to the Effects of Digitalis (1942)
Known for	Invention of the G-suit, Development of cardiac catheterization into a clinical service, Invention of the ear oximeter, Co-inventor of the first dynamic (high speed) volumetric x-ray computed tomography system
Influences	Aerospace Physiology, Cardiovascular Monitoring, Cardiovascular Dynamics, Medical Instrumentation
Notable awards	Presidential Certificate of Merit from Harry Truman-1947; Macalester College honorary degree of D.Sc.-1950; Distinguished Citizen Award-1974; honorary member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences-1977; honorary member American College of Cardiology - 1978; honorary degree, doctor of medicine, from the University of Bern, Switzerland - 1978; Humboldt Prize for Senior U.S. Scientists by the government of West Germany - 1979; John Phillips Memorial Award of the American College of Physicians - 1979; President of the American Physiological Society - 1980-81; President of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) - 1981-82; Ray G. Daggs Award for his distinguished long-term service to the science of physiology and, in particular, to the American Physiological Society - 1995; Street in Rheinfelden, Germany dedicated as "Earl H. Wood Strasse" - 2002.

Earl H. (Howard) Wood, M.D, Ph.D. (c. January 1, 1912 – March 18, 2009) was a cardiopulmonary physiologist who helped invent the G-suit and much more.

Shortly after receiving an M.D. and PhD in physiology from the University of Minnesota medical school under the mentorship of Professor Maurice B. Visscher, MD, Wood became a key member of a team, working in a, what was then top secret, laboratory at the Mayo Clinic, tasked with helping military pilots and flight crew survive and function in high G-force environments. Based upon extensive physiologic testing via use of the human centrifuge installed at the Mayo Clinic, it was determined that blackout and then unconsciousness was caused by reduction of blood flow to the eyes first and then the brain. The solutions the team arrived at were the M-1 breath hold maneuver and the G-suit. The M-1 maneuver consisted of a strained exhalation effort against a closed glottis designed to increase left ventricular pressure. The G suit was a garment, produced by the David Clark Company, which has air bladders situated at the calves, thighs, and abdomen of the wearer. The bladders inflate as the G-force acting on the aircraft increase, constricting the wearer's arteries, hence increasing blood pressure and blood flow to the brain.

The G-suit was a superior solution to another alternative (a water-filled suit) being tested at the time, which was considered impractically heavy and cumbersome. The water-filled, pulsatile pressure suits were developed to effect venous return. However, Wood and colleagues' detailed physiologic measurements demonstrated that what was required was augmentation of arterial pressure.

Wood himself regularly tested the flight suits, taking many turns in a human centrifuge and plane dubbed the "G-wiz." He calculated that over his several hundred rides, he had lost consciousness for an aggregate of at least fifteen minutes (without any observed lasting damage). Wood was awarded a Presidential Certificate of Merit by Harry Truman in 1947.

The G-suit was adopted in the 1940s. The current models are based on the pattern Wood and his colleagues designed. Following World War II, Wood was recruited to participate in what was known as "Operation Paperclip" The goal was to keep the top German scientists away from Russia and working for the United States.