THE BOURNER-LECTURE - ELECTROCHEMICAL POWER SOURCES - AN IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTOR TO MODERN HEALTH-CARE

The invention of the cardiac pacemaker thirty-nine years ago marked th e beginning of the era of the treatment of health disorders by battery powered implantable devices. Since that time several different batter y-powered implantable devices have been developed and are in use. Batt eries play an important role in external medical devices as well, rang ing from surgical tools to motorized wheel chairs. As both battery tec hnology and device development progress, the use of batteries in the t reatment of disease will continue to be an important feature of medica l care.