While the Jarvik 7 is generally considered to be the first artificial heart, it was not the first design for such a device.

Paul Winchell, a ventriloquist who enjoyed a heyday on American television in the 1950s and 1960s — along with his wooden-headed sidekick Jerry Mahoney — is credited with having patented the design of an artificial heart in 1963 after returning to higher education the previous decade.

Winchell and his collaborator, Henry Heimlich — best known as the developer of the Heimlich maneuver — subsequently donated the device to the University of Utah (Salt Lake City), where Jarvik attended engineering school under the tutelage of Willem Kolff.

Kolff, in turn, is described in some quarters as the father of the artificial organ for his pioneering work in this field and he also is credited with the invention of the first viable kidney dialysis machine.