How two Oregonians created the artificial heart valve | Oregon Experience

A young surgeon and retired engineer in Oregon invented the first successful artificial heart valve.

In 1958, retired engineer M. Lowell Edwards approached cardiac surgeon Dr. Albert Starr with an idea to build an artificial heart. Agreeing to tackle the project one heart valve at a time, Starr and Edwards embarked on an unexpected collaboration that would result in a revolutionary breakthrough in cardiac surgery — the invention of the world’s first successful artificial mitral heart valve.

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