Playing Robert Fischell: Finding new cures for migraine, depression, malpractice

Problems viewing videos?
Download latest Flash Player

Robert Fischell invented the rechargeable pacemaker, the implantable insulin pump, and devices that warn of epileptic seizures and heart attacks. Yet it's not just his inventive genius that makes him fascinating, but his determination to make the world a better place.

Robert Fischell began his work in space development, and created a 16-satellite system called Transit that was a key precursor to GPS. When he turned his attention to medical devices, he had the key insight that a pacemaker is like a tiny satellite within the body. The medical devices he has pioneered -- starting with a pacemaker that didn't require a new battery every two years -- have saved thousands of lives and improved countless more.
Fischell's true genius is his ability to see across technologies and sciences. His uncanny intuition allowed him to invent special features of the implantable cardiac defibrillator that has saved more than 60,000 lives -- followed by the implantable insulin pump, coronary stents used to open clogged arteries, and two extraordinary feedback systems that provide early warning of epileptic seizures and heart attacks. Though he is officially retired, he continues to create new devices to treat a wide range of ailments, from heart attacks to chronic migraines.

Accepting his 2005 TED Prize, inventor Robert Fischell makes three wishes: redesigning a portable migraine treatment, finding new cures for clinical depression, and reforming the medical malpractice system. He also shares three new inventions that could improve the lives of millions: His Angel Med Guardian System, a pacemaker-sized device wired into the heart, detects an elevation in the electric signal of the heart, the first sign of a heart attack. His transcranial magnetic stimulator treats migraines with a magnetic pulse. Finally, the Neuropace prevents epileptic seizures by transmitting electric signals in the brain.