Roger Lee Heath, invented the electrode pads (placed on the chest of cardiac arrest victims) making possible the modern automatic external defibrillator (AED). He is the only individual to invent and patent, through multiple U.S. and foreign patents, the first standardized electrical interface for the human body. His invention is now in use by paramedics, hospitals, helicopter transport operations, critical coronary care units, cardiac catherization labs, even in the home, and aboard America's space shuttle.

In 1995, he was recommended by American Heart Association officials, and other peers, for the Lemelson MIT Prize, the highest prize awarded inventors, and credited with making possible the modern AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) and related intermediate first responder programs. view Lemelson MIT letters