A new medical history exhibit at a Halifax museum comes straight from the heart — just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Nova Scotians can now catch a glimpse of the How to Fix a Broken Heart exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. It is hosted by the Medical History Society of Nova Scotia.
The exhibition examines the development of pacemakers from the 1960s to the present day, with several on display along with defibrillators and aortic and mitral heart valves.
The How to Fix a Broken Heart exhibit at the Museum of Natural History.
Skye Bryden-Blom / Global News
dr Allan Marble, the society’s chairman, said it’s important to know the history of pacemakers because they help so many people.
“I think everyone has a family member who gets either a pacemaker or a heart valve,” Marble said. “In fact, a lot of people will get themselves one. I think it’s important to know what they look like, how they work and know things about them, how long they last and what problems can arise with them.”
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He was there with other club members on Saturday to tell museum visitors the story of how a broken heart was healed.
Members also say it’s the perfect accompaniment to the successful Body Works Vital exhibition. It can be seen until February 20th.
The small installation shows artifacts from the collection of Dr. C. Edwin Kinley. He was the first doctor in Nova Scotia to install a pacemaker in the province.
“The most important invention in Canada in the 20th century was the pacemaker,” Marble explained.
“It was invented in Canada in 1950 by a heart surgeon and an electrical engineer working together to copy what the heart does naturally. The heart has a natural pacemaker, and sometimes that natural pacemaker doesn’t work properly, so you have to replace it.”
A display case of pacemakers on display in the How to Fix a Broken Heart exhibit at the Museum of Natural History.
Skye Bryden-Blom / Global News
The Medical History Society of Nova Scotia collects artifacts and displays them throughout the province. Doctor’s office exhibits are located at Sherbrooke Village and the Yarmouth County Museum.
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for dr Marble reminds the pacemaker exhibition of the importance of innovation when it comes to saving lives.
“It was an amazing marriage of two disciplines that seem far apart but were in fact very important to merge and do something that was very historic for humanity,” he said.
“The pacemaker saved millions of lives.”
He agreed that this might be one of the best tips to mend a broken heart.
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