is regarded as the first coronary artery bypass operation in Effler’s surgical department at Cleveland Clinic. DC defibrillation provided a safe way to restore a normal heart rhythm during the surgical bypass of obstructed coronary arteries. Lown went on to investigate the possibilities of the defibrillator to treat non-life-threatening tachycardias. He discovered that timing the electrical discharge outside the heart’s brief vulnerable period of 0.03 seconds in duration prevented ventricular fibrillation or sudden cardiac death. He called this method of timed DC discharge "Cardioversion." The cardioverter and DC defibrillator were especially valuable in coronary care units, when patients are hospitalized when most susceptible to sudden cardiac death and other potentially malignant arrhythmias. In addition to advancing medical technology, Lown discovered new applications for two drugs that were widely used for cardiac problems: digitalis and lidocaine. Until the 1950s, digitalis poisoning was a major cause of fatality among patients with congestive heart failure. During a medical residency at the Montefiore Hospital in New York City, Lown demonstrated the critical role of potassium in determining the safe use of digitalis. His discovery led to abandonment of long acting digitalis drugs like digitoxin. Instead, the short acting digitalis glycoside gained universal acceptance. Lown also focused medical attention on potassium loss with the use of various diuretics. In 1964, Lown introduced a new use for the drug lidocaine to control ventricular disordered heart rhythms. Lidocaine was also used in coronary units to prevent the need for resuscitation. Previously, lidocaine was used almost exclusively by dentists as an anesthetic agent. Fiber optics In 1957, Lown was concerned with how to visualize an atherosclerotic aortic plaque occurring in the big coronary vessels that supply nutrients to the heart muscle. It was his hope that visualizing this would lead to discovering how to treat and prevent heart attacks and sudden cardiac death. A discussion with a close friend, Elias Snitzer, a physicist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, led to an introduction to Michael Polanyi, a physicist with American Optical Company. At the time, Polanyi was working on fiber optics. Lown received a grant from the Hartford Foundation to pursue fiber optics. However, optical technology was inadequate at the time, so this line of research was discontinued. Lown's work did show that, with fiber optics, it was possible to measure oxygen saturation in dogs, and determine the cardiac output in humans. Paradoxically, when Lown submitted two abstracts to