University of Minnesota Receives $50 Million Gift for New Children's Hospital

University President Robert Bruininks called Amplatz a "trailblazer" in the spirit of Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, who pioneered open-heart surgery, and Earl Bakken, who invented the pacemaker.

Amplatz, who retired from the U in 1999, has 30 patents to his credit. His most famous invention is the Amplatzer, which closes an abnormal hole that can form in the septal wall that divides the right and left sides of the
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heart.