Michel Mirowski; Developer of Heart Defibrillator

Michel Mirowski, 65, principal developer of an implantable automatic heart defibrillator, a major advancement in cardiology. Mirowski became director of the coronary care unit at Sinai Hospital shortly after arriving in Baltimore from Israel in 1968. He later joined the faculty of the Johns Hopkins Medical School, becoming a professor of medicine in 1984. The defibrillator, about the size of a pack of cards, has been implanted in heart patients since 1980. The device senses irregularities in the heartbeat and shocks it back to normal speed and rhythm. It is estimated that it has helped prolong the lives of at least 10,000 people. Mirowski, born in Warsaw, did postgraduate work at the Eduard Herriott Hospital in Lyon, France, the Tel Hashomer Governmental Hospital in Tel Aviv and the National Institute of Cardiology in Mexico City. He then spent five years as chief of the division of cardiology at Asaf Harofe Governmental Hospital near Tel Aviv. In Baltimore on March 26 of cancer.