Rhees David J
Bakken Museum, 3537 Zenith Ave. S., Mineapolis, MN 55416, USA.
Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2009;2009:6588-9. doi: 10.1109/IEMBS.2009.5333994.
This paper analyzes the factors that led to the establishment in Minnesota of a thriving network of advanced medical device firms sometimes referred to as "Medical Alley." Factors examined include a favorable "business-technology infrastructure" that included the University of Minnesota, the migration of high-tech professionals from other industries, the emergence of specialized services and suppliers, the availability of capital, government encouragement, and support from trade associations. The seminal role of Medtronic, Inc., founded in 1949, is examined, particularly the invention of the first wearable cardiac pacemaker by the company's co-founder Earl Bakken in 1957 and Medtronic's licensing of the first fully implantable pacemaker developed by Wilson Greatbatch and William Chardack in 1960. Some of the major spin-off's from Medtronic will be examined, particularly CPI (now part of Boston Scientific) and St. Jude Medical. The paper will broadly characterize the evolution of "Medical Alley to the present.
本文分析了促使明尼苏达州建立起一个蓬勃发展的先进医疗设备公司网络（有时被称为“医学大道”）的因素。所考察的因素包括有利的“商业技术基础设施”，其中涵盖明尼苏达大学；来自其他行业的高科技专业人才的迁入；专业服务和供应商的出现；资本的可得性；政府的鼓励以及行业协会的支持。重点考察了1949年成立的美敦力公司的开创性作用，尤其是该公司联合创始人厄尔·巴肯在1957年发明了首个可穿戴式心脏起搏器，以及美敦力在1960年对威尔逊·格雷特巴奇和威廉·查达克研发的首个完全植入式起搏器进行了许可。还将考察美敦力的一些主要衍生公司，尤其是CPI（现为波士顿科学公司的一部分）和圣犹达医疗公司。本文将大致描述“医学大道”发展至当前的演变过程。
