Free Floating Disc Artificial Heart Valve
date: label: date made
content: ca 1961
name: label: maker
content: Hufnagel, Charles A.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This free floating artificial heart valve was the second type of prosthetic designed by pioneering heart surgeon Dr. Charles Hufnagel (1916-1989) and his team at Georgetown University. It was made of polypropylene. The disk initially received a coating of silicone rubber to ensure it did not make a loud noise. The valve could be implanted in the aortic and mitral and tricuspid valves. First clinically used in 1963, many of these early valves were still in use ten years later.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Hufnagel, invented and implanted the first successful artificial heart valve at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. He experimented with various materials, but eventually settled on polymethylmethacrylate, a hard, clear plastic more popularly known by the trade name of Plexiglas or Lucite.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Medicine
label: Subject
content: Cardiology
label: Subject
content: Prosthesis
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Artificial Heart Valves
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content: Health & Medicine
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation. Journal of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, Vol 11
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Charles A. Hufnagel, M.D.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MG.M-11582.06
label: catalog number
content: M-11582.06
label: accession number
content: 267860
objectType: label: Object Name
content: cardiology
label: Object Name
content: artificial heart valve
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: polypropylene (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: silicone (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1/2 in x 1 1/8 in; 1.27 cm x 2.8575 cm