Alois Langer

Alois A. Langer (born February 24, 1945, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American biomedical engineer best known as one of the co-inventors of the Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD).

Langer was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2002 for his contribution to developing the ICD. He studied electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and completed his Ph.D. thesis at Carnegie Mellon University. In 1972, Langer became the chief biomedical engineer at MedRad Inc. and started work on the ICD project. In 1980, he oversaw the final testing and implantation of the device into a human patient. In 1990, Langer founded Cardiac Telecom Corporation and engaged in the development and marketing of telephonic cardiac monitoring systems. Langer currently lives in Forest Hills, Pennsylvania, and works part-time as a consultant.