M. Stephen Heilman

Who is M. Stephen Heilman?

Marlin Stephen "Doc" Heilman is an American physician, entrepreneur and inventor. Among other things, he is credited with inventions in the fields of flow-controlled angiographic power injection, implantable cardiac defibrillators or ICDs and the patient wearable defibrillator. His first invention, the flow controlled power injector, advanced the fields of radiology and diagnostic cardiology by allowing physicians to better diagnose blockages and other abnormalities inside arteries and veins. MEDRAD, the company he formed to manufacture and market his invention, is a producer and supplier of power injection devices and disposables. The ICD, which he also helped develop, has significantly improved the treatment of patients at risk of sudden cardiac death. Now, routinely implanted in tens of thousands of patients who are at high risk for sudden death, ICDs are manufactured by the medical-companies Medtronic, Boston Scientific and St. Jude Medical. These devices have saved tens of thousands of lives and generate over three billion dollars in annual revenues. Heilman, who holds more than 30 patents related to medical imaging, ICDs and cardiac assist devices, has also founded and run several medical device companies, including Medrad Inc., Medrad Intec, Lifecor, and Vascor. He has served on the board of several for-profit and not-for-profit corporations and continues his work with Vascor in developing an implantable heart assist device to treat patients having advanced heart failure.