Question: What San Antonio doctor invented the heart stent?
Answer: Julio Palmaz. Born in Argentina in 1945, he studied medicine at the National University of La Plata and joined the radiology department at the University of Texas Health and Science Center at San Antonio in 1983. In 1985, he patented an expandable wire mesh stent that was licensed to Johnson & Johnson. The FDA approved the device for peripheral arterial use in 1991, and for coronary use in 1994. Palmaz was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006.
