Narrative Highlight: Richard Chan

At part of the 50th Anniversary meeting of ASAIO we conducted preliminary exchanges with individuals working in the field of artificial organs. The text below comes from Richard Chan.

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1. Which individual or event do you attribute the greatest historical significance in the advancement of organ replacement devices or machines? Please explain why.
	The development of the mechanical ventilator --- this allowed the cardiac surgeon to open the chest safely and performed procedures during cardiopulmonary bypass. Without this concept and technique, most of the cardiac procedures including implantation of ventricular assist devices would not be possible.