By the 20th century, electricity was gradually integrated into society.
Due to his interest in the field, William Kouwenhoven began to rewire old houses with electricity when he was college graduate.
However, a problem arose when utility linemen, who were setting up electricity lines, started to die from ventricular fibrillation (VF).

William Kouwenhoven's research focused on the effects of electricity on the heart, and he wanted to develop an instrument that would revive or shock the heart without invasive surgery.
The first procedures were done on rats and dogs, but both investigations failed to produce groundbreaking results.
Then, in 1925, the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health was offered a $10,000 award by the Consolidated Edison of New York in collaboration with Simon Flexner and the Rockefeller Institute to investigate and examine the effects of electricity on the human body.
The principal investigator of this Consolidated Edison study, Johns Hopkins neurologist Othello Langworthy, brought William Kouwenhoven, who was currently the professor of electrical engineering, to this team.
By 1928, Kouwenhoven and his team were able to observe the effects of DC and AC shock on the heart.
They noticed that when low-voltage shocks were applied to the heart, ventricular fibrillation was induced.
Kouwenhoven also discovered that high voltage shocks from the electrodes placed on the rats' heads resulted in the heart to stop pumping blood because the lungs had shut down completely.

Another method Kouwenhoven used to revive the hearts of rats was by giving CPR and massaging their chests.
However, this failed because massaging the chests resulted in the paralysis of the rats due to their crushed cervical spines.
By the year 1933, Kouwenhoven switched his research focus onto dogs.
He detected that delivering a second surge of electricity, also known as a countershock, led to the restoration of the sinus rhythm and normal heart contraction.
The dog's heart originally went through ventricular fibrillation, which occurs when the heart goes through rapid, electric impulses.
However, through a process called defibrillation, the heart was able to be revived.

The news of Kouwenhoven's finding began altering the approach to cardiac care.
Despite the high risks of the procedure, it was used by doctors at Case Western School of Medicine.
In 1947, Claude Beck, M.D., became the first surgeon ever to place electrodes directly on a heart that was in ventricular fibrillation during a surgery.
Kouwenhoven's studies also influenced the Division of Anesthesiology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
In the 1940s, researchers James Elam and Peter Safir perfected the emergency mouth-to-mouth method of lung ventilation, which is essential for oxygenating the blood when the heart is no longer functioning.
By the 20th century, electricity was gradually integrated into society. Due to his interest in the field, William Kouwenhoven began to rewire old houses with electricity when he was college graduate. However, a problem arose when utility linemen, who were setting up electricity lines, started to die from ventricular fibrillation (VF).
William Kouwenhoven's research focused on the effects of electricity on the heart, and he wanted to develop an instrument that would revive or shock the heart without invasive surgery. The first procedures were done on rats and dogs, but both investigations failed to produce groundbreaking results. Then, in 1925, the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health was offered a $10,000 award by the Consolidated Edison of New York in collaboration with Simon Flexner and the Rockefeller Institute to investigate and examine the effects of electricity on the human body. The principal investigator of this Consolidated Edison study, Johns Hopkins neurologist Othello Langworthy, brought William Kouwenhoven, who was currently the professor of electrical engineering, to this team. By 1928, Kouwenhoven and his team were able to observe the effects of DC and AC shock on the heart. They noticed that when low-voltage shocks were applied to the heart, ventricular fibrillation was induced. Kouwenhoven also discovered that high voltage shocks from the electrodes placed on the rats' heads resulted in the heart to stop pumping blood because the lungs had shut down completely.
Another method Kouwenhoven used to revive the hearts of rats was by giving CPR and massaging their chests. However, this failed because massaging the chests resulted in the paralysis of the rats due to their crushed cervical spines. By the year 1933, Kouwenhoven switched his research focus onto dogs. He detected that delivering a second surge of electricity, also known as a countershock, led to the restoration of the sinus rhythm and normal heart contraction. The dog's heart originally went through ventricular fibrillation, which occurs when the heart goes through rapid, electric impulses. However, through a process called defibrillation, the heart was able to be revived.
The news of Kouwenhoven's finding began altering the approach to cardiac care. Despite the high risks of the procedure, it was used by doctors at Case Western School of Medicine. In 1947, Claude Beck, M.D., became the first surgeon ever to place electrodes directly on a heart that was in ventricular fibrillation during a surgery. Kouwenhoven's studies also influenced the Division of Anesthesiology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. In the 1940s, researchers James Elam and Peter Safir perfected the emergency mouth-to-mouth method of lung ventilation, which is essential for oxygenating the blood when the heart is no longer functioning.
William B. Kouwenhoven