William H. Dobelle
Encyclopedia
William H. Dobelle was a biomedical researcher who developed experimental technologies that restored limited sight to blind
patients. In addition, Dobelle is known for the major impact that he and his company have had on the breathing pacemaker and the medical community as a whole. He was nominated with Dr. Willem Johan Kolff
for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
in 2003. He is also credited as Dr. William Dobelle, Dr. William H. Dobelle, William Harvey Dobelle, Bill Dobelle and Dr. Bill Dobelle. Dobelle is also known for for his extensive travels, having reportedly visited all 7 continents, at least 125 countries and all 50 U.S. states.
and Lillian Mendelsohn Dobelle, born in Pittsfield, MA on October 24, 1941. Martin Dobelle
's father had immigrated to the United States from Lithuania. His mother Lillian was born the youngest of ten children to the immensely wealthy Mendelsohn family. William's younger brother Evan Dobelle
, an American politician and educator, was born in 1945. His father Martin Dobelle
, a major orthopedic surgeon whose patients included US astronauts, sparked William Dobelle's original interest and early experience in medicine. At the age of 13 Dobelle designed improvements for the artificial hip
for which he received patents. He started college the following year at Vanderbilt. At 15 he won the State of Florida science fair for construction of an original concept x-ray machine. He moved on to win the National Science Fair.
. He soon transferred to Johns Hopkins University
where he immersed himself into the Hopkin's leading science community. He earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in biophysics
at Johns Hopkins University
where he worked on the development of medical tests. He finished his Ph.D. in neurophysiology
at the University of Utah
.
. He spent one day in Antarctica on this same journey.
In his youth, Dobelle had briefly worked on a whaling
boat and as a Porsche
mechanic.
When Dobelle was last tested, his IQ (Intelligence Quotient) was measured to be 168, therefore given the cognitive designation of "high genius".
for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
in 2003.
. Dr. Dobelle led one of several teams of scientists around the world seeking to develop technology for artificial vision. Dobelles' teams developed a brain implant
which films the visual field in front of the patient and transmits it to the brain's visual cortex
, allowing the patient to see outlines. He received widespread publicity in 2000 after his system restored limited navigational abilities to a blind volunteer. His "vision project" has been experimented in several people, allowing individuals who were once completely blind to see images in the form of white dots on a black background. In 2002, his creation even allowed 38 year-old Jens Smith, a blind man, to drive a car at the 48th annual American Society for Artificial Internal Organs conference.
, central apnea
, and other respiratory ailments.
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
patients. In addition, Dobelle is known for the major impact that he and his company have had on the breathing pacemaker and the medical community as a whole. He was nominated with Dr. Willem Johan Kolff
Willem Johan Kolff
Willem Johan "Pim" Kolff was a pioneer of hemodialysis as well as in the field of artificial organs. Willem is a member of the Kolff family, an old Dutch patrician family. He made his major discoveries in the field of dialysis for kidney failure during the Second World War...
for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
in 2003. He is also credited as Dr. William Dobelle, Dr. William H. Dobelle, William Harvey Dobelle, Bill Dobelle and Dr. Bill Dobelle. Dobelle is also known for for his extensive travels, having reportedly visited all 7 continents, at least 125 countries and all 50 U.S. states.
Childhood and family
Dr. William Harvey Dobelle was the son of Martin DobelleMartin Dobelle
Martin Dobelle was a veteran orthopedic surgeon.Born in New York City December 25, 1906, the son of Harry and Ida Kaplan Dobelle, he grew up in Brooklyn, New York. An alumnus of Boys High School, he received a track and field scholarship to and graduated from Fordham University in 1926 where he...
and Lillian Mendelsohn Dobelle, born in Pittsfield, MA on October 24, 1941. Martin Dobelle
Martin Dobelle
Martin Dobelle was a veteran orthopedic surgeon.Born in New York City December 25, 1906, the son of Harry and Ida Kaplan Dobelle, he grew up in Brooklyn, New York. An alumnus of Boys High School, he received a track and field scholarship to and graduated from Fordham University in 1926 where he...
's father had immigrated to the United States from Lithuania. His mother Lillian was born the youngest of ten children to the immensely wealthy Mendelsohn family. William's younger brother Evan Dobelle
Evan Dobelle
Evan Samuel Dobelle is a public official and higher-education administrator, is known for promoting higher-education investment in the Creative Economy, public-private partnerships and the "College Ready" model that helps students graduate from high school and college.-Life:Evan Samuel Dobelle...
, an American politician and educator, was born in 1945. His father Martin Dobelle
Martin Dobelle
Martin Dobelle was a veteran orthopedic surgeon.Born in New York City December 25, 1906, the son of Harry and Ida Kaplan Dobelle, he grew up in Brooklyn, New York. An alumnus of Boys High School, he received a track and field scholarship to and graduated from Fordham University in 1926 where he...
, a major orthopedic surgeon whose patients included US astronauts, sparked William Dobelle's original interest and early experience in medicine. At the age of 13 Dobelle designed improvements for the artificial hip
Hip replacement
Hip replacement is a surgical procedure in which the hip joint is replaced by a prosthetic implant. Hip replacement surgery can be performed as a total replacement or a hemi replacement. Such joint replacement orthopaedic surgery generally is conducted to relieve arthritis pain or fix severe...
for which he received patents. He started college the following year at Vanderbilt. At 15 he won the State of Florida science fair for construction of an original concept x-ray machine. He moved on to win the National Science Fair.
Education
William graduated high school at the age of 14 to attend college at Vanderbilt UniversityVanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
. He soon transferred to Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
where he immersed himself into the Hopkin's leading science community. He earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in biophysics
Biophysics
Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that uses the methods of physical science to study biological systems. Studies included under the branches of biophysics span all levels of biological organization, from the molecular scale to whole organisms and ecosystems...
at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
where he worked on the development of medical tests. He finished his Ph.D. in neurophysiology
Neurophysiology
Neurophysiology is a part of physiology. Neurophysiology is the study of nervous system function...
at the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
.
Other
Although his international travels began at a young age, Dobelle never lost the "Travel Bug". When being interviewed for Dobelle's obituary, a former representative of the Explorers Club in New York City, which Dobelle was a long-time member of, claimed that Dobelle had travelled to all 7 continents, at least 125 countries and all 50 U.S. States. The representative also explained that Dobelle was the first person he ever saw bring one of his children to the lavish banquets. He recalls a night in the early 1990s in which Dobelle brought his very young son to indulge alongside his father in crocodile meat, Dobelle's favorite. The explorer is said to, on several occasions throughout his 20's, have left to travel the world for months at a time, occasionally sending home a postcard from a distant country. Two of his most notable expeditions to were to South America, one of which was responsible for tracking the original route of Vasco Núñez de BalboaVasco Núñez de Balboa
Vasco Núñez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World.He traveled to the New World in...
. He spent one day in Antarctica on this same journey.
In his youth, Dobelle had briefly worked on a whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
boat and as a Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
mechanic.
When Dobelle was last tested, his IQ (Intelligence Quotient) was measured to be 168, therefore given the cognitive designation of "high genius".
Career
Dobelle was the CEO of the Dobelle Institute, headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal, which concentrates on artificial vision for the blind. He was associate director of the Institute of Biological Engineering at the University of Utah and director of the Division of Artificial Organs at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. He was a founding fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. He was also inducted as a Founding Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 1993, one of the highest honors available to an American scientist. Dr. Dobelle was inducted into the National Academy of Science in 1996 and was a co- nominee with Dr. Willem Johan KolffWillem Johan Kolff
Willem Johan "Pim" Kolff was a pioneer of hemodialysis as well as in the field of artificial organs. Willem is a member of the Kolff family, an old Dutch patrician family. He made his major discoveries in the field of dialysis for kidney failure during the Second World War...
for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
in 2003.
Artificial Vision
He bought Avery Laboratories (now Avery Biomedical Devices) in 1983, where he worked on neurostimulation and the artificial eyeArtificial eye
Artificial eye may refer to:* Visual prosthesis, functioning implant designed to restore sight* Ocular prosthesis, non-functioning cosmetic replacement for a lost eye...
. Dr. Dobelle led one of several teams of scientists around the world seeking to develop technology for artificial vision. Dobelles' teams developed a brain implant
Brain implant
Brain implants, often referred to as neural implants, are technological devices that connect directly to a biological subject's brain - usually placed on the surface of the brain, or attached to the brain's cortex...
which films the visual field in front of the patient and transmits it to the brain's visual cortex
Visual cortex
The visual cortex of the brain is the part of the cerebral cortex responsible for processing visual information. It is located in the occipital lobe, in the back of the brain....
, allowing the patient to see outlines. He received widespread publicity in 2000 after his system restored limited navigational abilities to a blind volunteer. His "vision project" has been experimented in several people, allowing individuals who were once completely blind to see images in the form of white dots on a black background. In 2002, his creation even allowed 38 year-old Jens Smith, a blind man, to drive a car at the 48th annual American Society for Artificial Internal Organs conference.
Portable Breathing Pacemaker
Avery's portable breathing pacemaker has been used by patients with quadriplegiaQuadriplegia
Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is paralysis caused by illness or injury to a human that results in the partial or total loss of use of all their limbs and torso; paraplegia is similar but does not affect the arms...
, central apnea
Apnea
Apnea, apnoea, or apnœa is a term for suspension of external breathing. During apnea there is no movement of the muscles of respiration and the volume of the lungs initially remains unchanged...
, and other respiratory ailments.
Death
Dobelle died in 2004 from complications related to Diabetes. He is survived by his wife Claire Dobelle, and their three children, Martin (b.1990), Molly (b.1992) and Mimi (b. 1993).Notable family members
- Dobelle's brother, Evan DobelleEvan DobelleEvan Samuel Dobelle is a public official and higher-education administrator, is known for promoting higher-education investment in the Creative Economy, public-private partnerships and the "College Ready" model that helps students graduate from high school and college.-Life:Evan Samuel Dobelle...
, is an American politician and educator. - Dobelle's father, Martin DobelleMartin DobelleMartin Dobelle was a veteran orthopedic surgeon.Born in New York City December 25, 1906, the son of Harry and Ida Kaplan Dobelle, he grew up in Brooklyn, New York. An alumnus of Boys High School, he received a track and field scholarship to and graduated from Fordham University in 1926 where he...
, was a veteran orthopedic surgeon. - Dobelle's brother in law, Michael WiglerMichael WiglerMichael Howard Wigler graduated Princeton University , majoring in mathematics, and received his PhD from Columbia University in microbiology ....
, is a pioneering molecular biologist and fellow member of the National Academy of Sciences. - Dobelle's widow, Claire Dobelle, is a retired business woman and television producer.