| William P. Murphy Jr. | |
| Birth Name: | William Parry Murphy Jr. |
| Birth Date: | 11 November 1923 |
| Birth Place: | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Coral Gables, Florida, U.S. |
| Parents: | William Parry Murphy Harriett Adams |
| Children: | 3 |
William Parry Murphy Jr. (November 11, 1923 – November 30, 2023) was an American physician and inventor of medical devices including collaborating on a flexible sealed blood bag used for blood transfusions. He was the son of the American physician William Parry Murphy who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology for Medicine in 1934,[1] and Harriett Adams, the first licensed female dentist in Massachusetts.[2]
William Parry Murphy Jr. was born in Boston on November 11, 1923, the son of hematologist William Parry Murphy and Harriet (née Adams) Murphy, the first woman to become a licensed dentist in Massachusetts.[3] Murphy grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts.[3] He graduated from Harvard University in 1946 with a major in pre-medicine and a minor in architecture. He received his M.D. in 1947 from the University of Illinois and also studied physiologic instrumentation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1947 to 1948.[3]
Murphy married Barbara Eastham in 1943; they had three daughters and divorced in the early 1970s.[3] In 1973, he married Beverly Patterson.[3]
Murphy turned 100 on November 11, 2023, and died 19 days later, on November 30, at his home in Coral Gables, Florida.[3]
Murphy was the chairman of the board of directors at U.S. Stem Cell, formerly Bioheart. He retired in 2022.[3]
Murphy holds 17 U.S. patents issued between 1952 and 1980.
| Patent # | Year Issued | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,596,819 | align=center | 1952 | Change Speed Apparatus | |
| 2,649,299 | align=center | 1953 | Spring Scale | |
| 2,876,496 | align=center | 1959 | Process for Making Tubes | |
| 3,013,656 | align=center | 1961 | Disposable Medical Trays | |
| 3,033,038 | align=center | 1962 | Surgical Manometer | |
| 3,048,192 | align=center | 1962 | Surgical Valve | |
| 3,101,085 | align=center | 1963 | Alternating Tourniquet System | |
| 3,105,511 | align=center | 1963 | Infusion Safety Valve | |
| 3,152,202 | align=center | 1964 | Tapered End Plastic Tube | |
| 3,122,136 | align=center | 1964 | Catheter Pressure Standard | |
| 3,140,714 | align=center | 1964 | Blood Separation Method* | |
| 3,246,646 | align=center | 1966 | Pivoted Vaginal Speculum | |
| 3,253,595 | align=center | 1966 | Cardiac Pacer Electrode System** | |
| 3,625,201 | align=center | 1971 | Tester for Standby Pacing | |
| 3,620,220 | align=center | 1971 | Cardiac Pacer with Redundant Power Supply | |
| 4,211,597 | align=center | 1980 | Method for Making Artificial Kidney*** | |
| 4,231,871 | align=center | 1980 | Artificial Kidney & Method for Making Same*** |
** J. Walter Keller Coinventor
*** BJ. Lipps Coinventor
He co-authored nearly 30 medical publications and helped to establish several professional organizations such as FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a non-profit group dedicated to inspiring young people's interest in science, technology and engineering, founded by his friend Dean Kamen.
| Publication Title | Authors | Publication / Publisher | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Portable Projector for Roentgenograms" | Dillion and Murphy | Am. J. of Roent. & Ray., Vol. LXI #6 | June 1949 | |
| "Sterile Lancets for Blood Sampling" | Walter, Murphy, and Comploier | J. of A.M.A., 148 | March 1952 | |
| "A Closed Gravity Technique for the Preservation of Whole Blood in ACD Solution" | Utilizing Plastic Equipment | Walter and Murphy S.G.&O., #94 | June 1952. | |
| "The Retardation of Clotting of Whole Blood on Contact with Stainless Steel" | Walter, Murphy, Jessiman, and Ahara | Surgical Forum | 1952 | |
| "Use of an Artificial Kidney" | Murphy, Swan, Walter, Weller and Merrill | J. Lab. & CI. Med., 4D #3 | September 1952 | |
| "Report of Blood Study Team Activities in the Far East” | Sproul, Murphy, Warrens and Sack | June 19 to July 30, 1953 | ||
| "Serum Hepatitis from Pooled Irradiated Dried Plasma" | Murphy and Workman | J. of A.M.A., #154 | August 1953 | |
| "Hemolysis in Blood Collected for Plasma processing" | Murphy, Sprout and Cetz | J.ofA.M.A.,#6 | Junel955 | |
| "The Mechanical Factors Responsible for Rapid Infusion of Blood" | Walter, Murphy and Bellamy | S.G. &0.,#1 | July 1955 | |
| "The Influence of Extracellular Factors Involved in the Collection of Blood in ACD on Maintenance of Red Cell Viability During Refrigerated Storage" | Gibson, Murphy, Scheitlin and Rees | Am. J. of CI. Path, #8 | August 1956 | |
| "Direct Stimulation Myography and Ergometry of Human Calf Muscles with Supplementary Observations on Calf Elasticity," | Edwards and Murphy | Surgery, Gynecology & Obstetrics | December 1956 | |
| "Unitized Disposable Urethral Catheter and Specimen Container" | Murphy, Flanery and Smith | J. of A.M.A., #15 | December 1956 | |
| "A Blood Volume Expander Rediscovered" | Murphy | Bulletin of American Association of Blood Banks #2 | February 1957 | |
| "Transfusion Consultation, Its Importance in Blood Banking" | Murphy | Bulletin of American Association of Blood Banks Vol. 10, No. 11 | November 1957 | |
| "Atrial, Ventricular and Conal Myograms of the Embryonic Chick Heart" | Paff, Boucek and Murphy | The Anatomical Record | January 1959 | |
| "Electrocardiographic and Myographic Responses to Injury in the Isolated Chick Embryo Heart" | Boucek, Murphy and Paff | University of Miami | March 1959 | |
| "An Evaluation of Intermittent Peritoneal Lavage" | Doolan and Murphy | American Journal of Medicine | June 1959 | |
| "Thermo-Plastics in Patient Care Devices" | Murphy | Hospital Topics | July 1959 | |
| "Electrical and Mechanical Properties of the Chick Embryo Heart" | Boucek, Murphy and Paff | Circulation Research, Vol. VII | September 1959 | |
| "Recording of the Mechanical and Electrical Functions of the Chick Embryo Heart" | Murphy, Boucek and Paff | Medical Electronics | June 1959 | |
| "Electromagnetophoresis of Erythrocytes" | Dandliker, Murphy and Keller | Federation Proceedings, Vol. 19,m No. 1, Pt. 1 | March 1960 | |
| "Segmental Perfusion of Coronary Arteries with Fibrinolysin in Man Following Myocardial Infarction" | Boucek and Murphy | Am. J. Cardiology | August 1960 | |
| "A Sterile, Disposable Catheterization Tray" | Murphy | Hospital Topics | February 1961 | |
| "Intercalative Angiography" | Boucek, Murphy and Hernandez | Radiology Vol. 76, No. 4 | April 1961 | |
| "The Cardiac Programmer to Trigger an Arterial Pump" | Murphy | Transcript American Society of Artificial Internal Organs, Vol. VII | 1961 | |
| "Magnetoelectrophoresis" | Murphy, Dandliker and Keller | Transfusion, Vol. 1, No. 6 | November–December 1961 | |
| "Preparing Plastic Implant Devices" | Murphy | Hospital Topics | October 1971 | |
| "Carl Walter: A Pioneer in Shaping the Medical Device Industry" | Murphy | The American Journal of Surgery | November 1984 |