MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Interventional cardiologist Dr. Geoffrey Hartzler, who pioneered angioplasty treatment for heart attack patients, died last weekend at the age of 65.
In 1981 Hartzler became the 1st to use percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty to treat a heart attack patient. He further refined the procedure, amid growing skepticism, and established angioplasty as the gold standard for treatment.
He also developed the 1st implantable defibrillator to hit the market, worked on the team that developed the 1st steerable guidewire catheters and helped design a family of "Hartzler" balloon catheters, according to an obituary.
He was the recipient and namesake of many awards in his field, and he was also known for his love of bass guitar.
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