Tofy Mussivand

Tofigh "Tofy" Mussivand (2 December 1942 – 7 January 2024) was an Iranian-Canadian medical engineer of Kurdish origin who invented an artificial cardiac pump, a device that pumps blood and takes over the function of breathing during a heart surgery.

Biography
Mussivand was born to Kurdish parents in the village of Varkaneh in Hamadan province, Iran. Before leaving Varkaneh to study in Tehran, he was a goat herder. He studied engineering at Tehran University and University of Alberta, and fled Iran in 1957. He worked for the Canadian government, crown corporations, and the private sector.

Mussivand went on to receive his doctorate in medical engineering and medical sciences at the University of Akron and the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine. Thereafter, he joined the Cleveland Clinic. In 1989, Mussivand returned to Canada.

Mussivand was a professor of surgery and of engineering at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University; the chair and director of the cardiovascular devices division of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) and medical devices program of both the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. He was an honorary member of the Iranian Academy of Medical Sciences.

Mussivand died on 7 January 2024, at the age of 81.