About the Book
Chapter 1. Timeline of Events/Overview
Chapter 2. Nuclear Foundations
Chapter 3. Origin and Characterization of Medical Carbons
Chapter 4. Gott's Early Experience - A Lesson in Serendipity
Chapter 5. First Carbon Heart Valve Replacement
Chapter 6. First All-Carbon Mitral Valve Replacement
Chapter 7. Monoleaflet Tilting Disc Valves
Chapter 8. First Bileaflet Valve: St Jude Medical Start-up
Chapter 9. General Atomic Medical Products Division
Chapter 10. Carbomedics Gets Acquainted With Intermedics
Chapter 11. Carbomedics Moves to Austin Texas
Chapter 12. The Hemex Venture
Chapter 13. The St Jude Medical Litigation
Chapter 14. Broadening the Horizon
Chapter 15. Two Valves for China
Chapter 16. Negotiating Chinese Joint Venture
Chapter 17.European Company Buys Intermedics
Chapter 18. Medtronic Venture: Carbon Implants
Chapter 19. The Agreement
Chapter 20. Medtronic Clinical Trial
Chapter 21. Medical Carbon Research Institute/On-X Life Technologies
Chapter 22. Valve Design
Chapter 23. Clinical Trials
Chapter 24. Design Validation
Chapter 25. Studies Concurrent With FDA Trials
Chapter 26. Understanding Cardiac Blood Flow
Chapter 27. Investigating the Viability of Bioprostheses
Chapter 28. On-X Valve Implantability
Chapter 29. Selling the On-X Valve
Chapter 30. The Video
Chapter 31. Cryolife Buys On-X Life Technologies
Chapter 32. Mervyn Williams' South African Trial Results
Chapter 33. Summary and Reflections
References
Index
About the Author: Dr. Jack Bokros was employed as a Senior Research Engineer at Atomics International from 1955 to 1958. In 1958, he joined the staff of General Atomic Company to study materials for use in high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. Dr. Bokros received his doctorate at the University of California. He was a member of the Scientific Laboratory Group of the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan, where he conducted basic studies of phase transformation in metals, and then in 1963, he rejoined the staff at General Atomic Company in San Diego. During that time, he conducted basic and applied research into the preparation, structure and properties of carbon coatings and graphite and was concerned with the effects of fast neutron irradiation on these materials. Subsequently, Dr. Bokros conducted basic and applied studies of carbonaceous materials for use in bioengineering. The commercialization of this activity led to the formation of CarboMedics, Inc. with Bokros as its President. In 1980, he established two subsidiaries, Intermedics Orthopedics, Inc. and Calcitek, Inc. to commercialize CarboMedic's porous metal, calcium hydroxyapatite, and carbon biomaterial technologies in the orthopedic and dental fields. In 1989, Bokros formed Carbon Implants, Inc., which was acquired by Medtronic, Inc. in 1994. In April of 1994, he formed the Medical Carbon Research Institute to develop advanced multileaflet cardiac valve prostheses incorporating On-X carbon, an improved and patented form of pyrolytic carbon. In 2007, Medical Carbon Research Institute, LLC was converted to a C-corp and renamed On-X Life Technologies, Inc.
