Dr. Wilfred G. Bigelow heart surgeon known for his role in developing the artificial pacemaker and the use of hypothermia in open heart surgery

On my walk through Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto, I visited the grave of Dr. Wilfred Gordon “Bill” Bigelow, the Canadian heart surgeon best known for his role in developing the artificial pacemaker and for pioneering the use of hypothermia in open-heart surgery.

Born in Brandon, Manitoba, Bigelow developed an early interest in hypothermia while working as a surgical resident in Toronto, where he was often required to amputate the fingers and toes of patients suffering from severe frostbite. This interest was further shaped by his work during the Second World War, when he treated soldiers with frostbite and gangrene.

After the war, Dr. Bigelow went to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, to study vascular and cardiac surgery. He returned to Toronto in 1947 and began his own hypothermia research on dogs in the basement of the Banting Institute at Toronto General Hospital.

Banting Institute at Toronto General Hospital where Dr. Bigelow performed his research on hypothermia. 

“Once he figured out how to control shivering, he saw there was a linear relationship between metabolism and temperature. He realized you could slow down the heart.” This work led to a successful open-heart operation on a dog whose body temperature was lowered to 20 degrees Celsius, allowing circulation to be stopped for 15 minutes. Several years later, an American surgeon successfully performed the first open-heart procedure on a human, with Bigelow and his colleagues receiving full credit for the foundational research.

Bigelow’s work on hypothermia eventually led to his second major innovation: the pacemaker—a device he would one day rely on himself, and one that has extended the lives of millions of people around the world.

Dr. Bill Bigelow was honoured with many awards during his lifetime, including appointment to the Order of Canada. He died in Toronto on March 27, 2005, at the age of 91.

1913-2005