# William P. Murphy Jr.

William Parry Murphy Jr. (November 11, 1923 – November 30, 2023) was an American physician and inventor of medical devices including collaborating on a flexible sealed blood bag used for blood transfusions. He was the son of the American physician William Parry Murphy who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology for Medicine in 1934, and Harriett Adams, the first licensed female dentist in Massachusetts.

## Background

William Parry Murphy Jr. was born in Boston on November 11, 1923, the son of hematologist William Parry Murphy and Harriet (née Adams) Murphy, the first woman to become a licensed dentist in Massachusetts. Murphy grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University in 1946 with a major in pre-medicine and a minor in architecture. He received his M.D. in 1947 from the University of Illinois and also studied physiologic instrumentation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1947 to 1948.

### Personal life

Murphy married Barbara Eastham in 1943; they had three daughters and divorced in the early 1970s. In 1973, he married Beverly Patterson.
Murphy turned 100 on November 11, 2023, and died 19 days later, on November 30, at his home in Coral Gables, Florida.

## Career

Murphy was the chairman of the board of directors at U.S. Stem Cell, formerly Bioheart. He retired in 2022.

### U.S. Patents

Murphy holds 17 U.S. patents issued between 1952 and 1980.
| Patent # | Year Issued | Description |
| 2,596,819 | 1952 | Change Speed Apparatus |
| 2,649,299 | 1953 | Spring Scale |
| 2,876,496 | 1959 | Process for Making Tubes |
| 3,013,656 | 1961 | Disposable Medical Trays |
| 3,033,038 | 1962 | Surgical Manometer |
| 3,048,192 | 1962 | Surgical Valve |
| 3,101,085 | 1963 | Alternating Tourniquet System |
| 3,105,511 | 1963 | Infusion Safety Valve |
| 3,152,202 | 1964 | Tapered End Plastic Tube |
| 3,122,136 | 1964 | Catheter Pressure Standard |
| 3,140,714 | 1964 | Blood Separation Method* |
| 3,246,646 | 1966 | Pivoted Vaginal Speculum |
| 3,253,595 | 1966 | Cardiac Pacer Electrode System** |
| 3,625,201 | 1971 | Tester for Standby Pacing |
| 3,620,220 | 1971 | Cardiac Pacer with Redundant Power Supply |
| 4,211,597 | 1980 | Method for Making Artificial Kidney*** |
| 4,231,871 | 1980 | Artificial Kidney & Method for Making Same*** |
* Walter B. Dandliker, PhD Coinventor
** J. Walter Keller Coinventor
*** BJ. Lipps Coinventor

## Publications

He co-authored nearly 30 medical publications and helped to establish several professional organizations such as FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a non-profit group dedicated to inspiring young people's interest in science, technology and engineering, founded by his friend Dean Kamen.
| Publication Title | Authors | Publication / Publisher | Date |
| "Portable Projector for Roentgenograms" | Dillion and Murphy | Am. J. of Roent. & Ray., Vol. LXI #6 | June 1949 |
| "Sterile Lancets for Blood Sampling" | Walter, Murphy, and Comploier | J. of A.M.A., 148 | March 1952 |
| "A Closed Gravity Technique for the Preservation of Whole Blood in ACD Solution" | Utilizing Plastic Equipment | Walter and Murphy S.G.&O., #94 | June 1952. |
| "The Retardation of Clotting of Whole Blood on Contact with Stainless Steel" | Walter, Murphy, Jessiman, and Ahara | Surgical Forum | 1952 |
| "Use of an Artificial Kidney" | Murphy, Swan, Walter, Weller and Merrill | J. Lab. & CI. Med., 4D #3 | September 1952 |
| "Report of Blood Study Team Activities in the Far East” | Sproul, Murphy, Warrens and Sack | | June 19 to July 30, 1953 |
| "Serum Hepatitis from Pooled Irradiated Dried Plasma" | Murphy and Workman | J. of A.M.A., #154 | August 1953 |
| "Hemolysis in Blood Collected for Plasma processing" | Murphy, Sprout and Cetz | J.ofA.M.A.,#6 | Junel955 |
| "The Mechanical Factors Responsible for Rapid Infusion of Blood" | Walter, Murphy and Bellamy | S.G. &0.,#1 | July 1955 |
| "The Influence of Extracellular Factors Involved in the Collection of Blood in ACD on Maintenance of Red Cell Viability During Refrigerated Storage" | Gibson, Murphy, Scheitlin and Rees | Am. J. of CI. Path, #8 | August 1956 |
| "Direct Stimulation Myography and Ergometry of Human Calf Muscles with Supplementary Observations on Calf Elasticity," | Edwards and Murphy | Surgery, Gynecology & Obstetrics | December 1956 |
| "Unitized Disposable Urethral Catheter and Specimen Container" | Murphy, Flanery and Smith | J. of A.M.A., #15 | December 1956 |
| "A Blood Volume Expander Rediscovered" | Murphy | Bulletin of American Association of Blood Banks #2 | February 1957 |
| "Transfusion Consultation, Its Importance in Blood Banking" | Murphy | Bulletin of American Association of Blood Banks Vol. 10, No. 11 | November 1957 |
| "Atrial, Ventricular and Conal Myograms of the Embryonic Chick Heart" | Paff, Boucek and Murphy | The Anatomical Record | January 1959 |
| "Electrocardiographic and Myographic Responses to Injury in the Isolated Chick Embryo Heart" | Boucek, Murphy and Paff | University of Miami | March 1959 |
| "An Evaluation of Intermittent Peritoneal Lavage" | Doolan and Murphy | American Journal of Medicine | June 1959 |
| "Thermo-Plastics in Patient Care Devices" | Murphy | Hospital Topics | July 1959 |
| "Electrical and Mechanical Properties of the Chick Embryo Heart" | Boucek, Murphy and Paff | Circulation Research, Vol. VII | September 1959 |
| "Recording of the Mechanical and Electrical Functions of the Chick Embryo Heart" | Murphy, Boucek and Paff | Medical Electronics | June 1959 |
| "Electromagnetophoresis of Erythrocytes" | Dandliker, Murphy and Keller | Federation Proceedings, Vol. 19,m No. 1, Pt. 1 | March 1960 |
| "Segmental Perfusion of Coronary Arteries with Fibrinolysin in Man Following Myocardial Infarction" | Boucek and Murphy | Am. J. Cardiology | August 1960 |
| "A Sterile, Disposable Catheterization Tray" | Murphy | Hospital Topics | February 1961 |
| "Intercalative Angiography" | Boucek, Murphy and Hernandez | Radiology Vol. 76, No. 4 | April 1961 |
| "The Cardiac Programmer to Trigger an Arterial Pump" | Murphy | Transcript American Society of Artificial Internal Organs, Vol. VII | 1961 |
| "Magnetoelectrophoresis" | Murphy, Dandliker and Keller | Transfusion, Vol. 1, No. 6 | November–December 1961 |
| "Preparing Plastic Implant Devices" | Murphy | Hospital Topics | October 1971 |
| "Carl Walter: A Pioneer in Shaping the Medical Device Industry" | Murphy | The American Journal of Surgery | November 1984 |