Nationality Canadian Died November 24, 1998 Occupation medical researcher | Name John Hopps Role Engineer | |
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Books Passing Pulses: The Pacemaker and Medical Engineering: A Canadian Story | ||
John Alexander "Jack" Hopps, (May 21, 1919 – November 24, 1998) was one of the pioneers of the artificial pacemaker and the founder of the Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society (CMBES) who have called him the "Father of biomedical engineering in Canada".
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he received a B.Sc.Eng. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Manitoba in 1941. He joined the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) in 1942.
Beginning in 1949, he worked with Dr. Wilfred Bigelow and Dr. John Callaghan at the Banting Institute in the University of Toronto, developing the world's first external artificial pacemaker in 1951. (The first internal pacemaker was implanted in a human body by a Swedish team in 1958.)
Hopps was an advisor to the Sri Lanka health department's Electromedical Division through the Canadian government's Colombo Plan in 1957-58 before returning to the NRC and becoming head of its Medical Engineering Section in 1973.
In 1965, Hopps founded the Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society (CMBES) and became its first President. In 1976, he was awarded the honour of Fellow of the Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society. He was also the President of the Ontario Heart Foundation (Ottawa Chapter).
He retired in 1978. In 1985, his autobiography, Passing Pulses, the Pacemaker and Medical Engineering: A Canadian Story, was published.
In 1986, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He is a member of the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame.