Willem J. Kolff audio-visual collection
Collection
Identifier: A0333
Scope and Contents
The Willem J. Kolff audio-visual collection (1949-1995) consists of film, video and audio recordings relevant to Kolff's research into the development of artificial organs, including the artificial kidney and artificial heart. Collection materials show the evolution of Kolff's artificial organs and include experiments, lectures, interviews, patient treatments, etcirca
Dates
- 1949-1995
Creator
- Kolff, Willem J. (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Materials must be used on-site; no use of original material, access copies will be made available for viewing. Five business days advanced notice required. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law, condition of the material, or by donor.
Biographical Note
Dr. Willem Johan Kolff (1911-2009) has been an internationally-known name in the world of medicine since 1957 when he began working on the total artificial heart at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Known as the "Father of Artificial Organs", his pioneering spirit actually led him to make giant leaps in medicine long before he was so well-known.
Born February 14, 1911, in Leyden, The Netherlands, Dr. Kolff went to the University of Groningen for his residency in medicine during the German occupation. He started working on the artificial kidney in 1939, and became the first internist at a small hospital in Kampen, where he continued the work on the artificial kidney. The rotating drum kidney was developed in 1941, and by 1955 the twin-coil kidney had led to the possibility of dialysis worldwide. Work on the heart-lung machines began in 1948, and the first membrane oxygenators were used successfully in patients in 1955.
Dr. Kolff and his wife Janke had five children who were all born in the Netherlands. They immigrated to the United States in 1950. Here Dr. Kolff worked in the Research Department and the Department of Surgery of the Cleveland Clinicirca He worked on the artificial kidney, the heart lung machine, and invented the total artificial heart in 1957, one year after becoming a United States citizen. He became Scientific Director of Cleveland's Artificial Organ program, then moved to Utah in 1967 to direct the Division of Artificial Organs and the Institute for Biomedical Engineering at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
At the Division of Artificial Organs and the Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Dr. Kolff was in charge of teams working on artificial kidneys, artificial hearing, the artificial eye, artificial arm, the subcutaneous peritoneal access device, and the artificial heart. In 1982 Dr. Barney Clark received the first "permanent artificial heart" implanted in a human. This event made the University of Utah known throughout the world as the leader in artificial organ research.
Dr. Kolff has received more than a hundred awards, among these the prestigious Japan Prize in 1986. He has published more than six hundred articles. He has been active in social issues such as abortion rights and nuclear weapon protests, and has always been interested in nature and art. He died February 11, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Born February 14, 1911, in Leyden, The Netherlands, Dr. Kolff went to the University of Groningen for his residency in medicine during the German occupation. He started working on the artificial kidney in 1939, and became the first internist at a small hospital in Kampen, where he continued the work on the artificial kidney. The rotating drum kidney was developed in 1941, and by 1955 the twin-coil kidney had led to the possibility of dialysis worldwide. Work on the heart-lung machines began in 1948, and the first membrane oxygenators were used successfully in patients in 1955.
Dr. Kolff and his wife Janke had five children who were all born in the Netherlands. They immigrated to the United States in 1950. Here Dr. Kolff worked in the Research Department and the Department of Surgery of the Cleveland Clinicirca He worked on the artificial kidney, the heart lung machine, and invented the total artificial heart in 1957, one year after becoming a United States citizen. He became Scientific Director of Cleveland's Artificial Organ program, then moved to Utah in 1967 to direct the Division of Artificial Organs and the Institute for Biomedical Engineering at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
At the Division of Artificial Organs and the Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Dr. Kolff was in charge of teams working on artificial kidneys, artificial hearing, the artificial eye, artificial arm, the subcutaneous peritoneal access device, and the artificial heart. In 1982 Dr. Barney Clark received the first "permanent artificial heart" implanted in a human. This event made the University of Utah known throughout the world as the leader in artificial organ research.
Dr. Kolff has received more than a hundred awards, among these the prestigious Japan Prize in 1986. He has published more than six hundred articles. He has been active in social issues such as abortion rights and nuclear weapon protests, and has always been interested in nature and art. He died February 11, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Extent
200 16mm film
8 8mm film
10 U-matic
2 Betacam
18 VHS
11 Audiocassette
4 reel-to-reel audiotapes
Language of Materials
English
Dutch; Flemish
Japanese
Abstract
The Willem J. Kolff audio-visual collection (1949-1995) consists of film, video and audio recordings relevant to Kolff's groundbreaking medical research into the development of artificial organs, including the artificial kidney and artificial heart.
Arrangement
The materials are arranged roughly chronologically by subject matter. Items detailing Kolff's work on the artificial kidney are followed by those focused on the artificial heart and then by material relevant to the development of other artificial organs and miscellaneous collection materials.
Processing Information
Processed by Mark Jensen, Debra Penman, Tawnya Mosier, and Elizabeth Shuput in 1999.
- Artificial arms -- Utah -- History -- Source
- Artificial kidney -- Utah -- History -- Sources
- Eyes, Artificial -- Utah -- Sources
- Heart, Artificial -- Utah -- History -- Sources
- Heart, Mechanical -- Utah -- History -- Sources
- Medicine and Health
- Moving Images
- Sound Recordings
- Sound recordings
- University of Utah -- Faculty
- University of Utah. Department of Biomedical Engineering
Creator
- Kolff, Willem J. (Person)
- Title
- Guide to the Willem J. Kolff audio-visual collection
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Mark Jensen, Debra Penman, Tawnya Mosier, and Elizabeth Shuput.
- Date
- 1999
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository
Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu