John Alexander Hopps

John Alexander Hopps, OC (May 21, 1919 – November 24, 1998) was a co-developer of both the first artificial pacemaker and the first combined pacemaker-defibrillator, and was the founder of the Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society (CMBES). He has been called the "Father of biomedical engineering in Canada."[1][2][3]

John Alexander Hopps
Born(1919-05-21)May 21, 1919
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
DiedNovember 24, 1998(1998-11-24) (aged 79)
Alma materUniversity of Manitoba (B.Sc.Eng.)
Occupationmedical researcher
Known forpioneering cardiac pacemaker
AwardsOrder of Canada

He was also the President and Secretary-General of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering from the 1970s to the mid-1980s.[1] He is a member of the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame.[4]

Life and work

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba,[5] he received a B.Sc.Engineering degree in electrical engineering from the University of Manitoba in 1941. He joined the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) in 1942.

In the early 1940s, Hopps was very focused on researching how to pasteurize beer using various waves like radio waves or microwaves.[6] Beginning in 1949, he worked with Doctors Wilfred Bigelow and John Callaghan at the Banting Institute in the University of Toronto, developing the world's first external artificial pacemaker in 1951. (The first internal pacemaker was implanted in a human body by a Swedish team in 1958.) Hopps initially resented his work at the institute, calling it "an annoying interruption."[7] During this work, Hopps discovered that the heart would contract when subjected to electrical impulses.[8]

Hopps was an advisor to the Sri Lanka health department's Electromedical Division through the Canadian government's Colombo Plan in 1957-58 before returning to the NRC and becoming head of its Medical Engineering Section in 1973.[9]

In 1965, Hopps founded the Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society (CMBES) and became its first President.[10] In 1971, he was appointed president of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering, for which he later served as the secretary general from 1976 to 1985.[6] In 1976, he was awarded the honour of Fellow of the CMBES.[11] He was also the President of the Ontario Heart Foundation's Ottawa Chapter.

He retired in 1978. In 1985, his autobiography, Passing Pulses, the Pacemaker and Medical Engineering: A Canadian Story, was published.[12] The same year, he also won the A.G.L. McNaughton Award for engineering contributions made as a Canadian.[13]

In 1986, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.[1]

References
  1. Office of the Secretary to the Governor General. "Mr. John Alexander Hopps". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
  2. Administrator. "CMBES Founder". www.cmbes.ca. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  3. "Creating a new kind of heart beat | The Channel". ingeniumcanada.org. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
  4. The Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame: The Hall Archived 2014-11-09 at the Wayback Machine, Canada Science and Technology Museum.
  5. Bains, Perminder, et al. 2017. "John hopps and the pacemaker: A history and detailed overview of devices, indications, and complications." British Columbia Medical Journal 59(1):29-37. Available at ResearchGate.
  6. Axworthy, Nicole (March–April 2003). "Ten extraordinary engineers who made their mark on history". Engineering Dimensions: 30–32.
  7. Hopps, John A. (1981-01-01). "The Development of the Pacemaker". Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology. 4 (1): 106–108. doi:10.1111/j.1540-8159.1981.tb03682.x. ISSN 1540-8159. PMID 6171784. S2CID 46006681.
  8. Bigelow, W. G. (1984-10-15). "The pacemaker story: A cold heart spin-off". Canadian Medical Association Journal. 131 (8): 943–955. ISSN 0008-4409. PMC 1483732. PMID 20314444.
  9. "John Alexander Hopps fonds". Archival description. Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 16 Sep 2016.
  10. Founder of CMBES, The Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society.
  11. "CMBES Membership Awards - Fellows". Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  12. Hopps, John Alexander (1985). Passing Pulses, the Pacemaker and Medical Engineering: A Canadian Story. Gloucester, Ont. ISBN 9780968101001.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. "Recipients of A.G.L. McNaughton Award". IEEE Canada. 16 October 2015.

Sources

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