The MedTech world has lost one of its greatest architects

TriHealth honors Dr. Thomas J. Fogarty, who passed away on December 28, 2025, at the age of 91, leaving behind a legacy that reshaped not only how surgeons operate, but also how physicians think about medical innovation itself.

Dr. Fogarty was born in Cincinnati in 1934, and his deep roots to the area followed him throughout his work and his life, as he was not only born and raised here, but also studied medicine in Cincinnati.

In 1960, as a young resident, he looked at the brutal reality of open surgery for blood clots and refused to accept it as the best that could be done. With nothing more than a latex glove, fly‑fishing line, and a catheter, he created the first prototype of the Fogarty balloon embolectomy catheter. That device became the world’s first minimally invasive surgical tool, transforming a high‑mortality operation into a routine procedure.

Dr. Fogarty’s career never slowed after that first breakthrough. He accumulated more than 190 patents and founded over 45 companies. He was someone who saw limitations as invitations for innovation. Whether he was designing a centrifugal clutch at age 12 or producing world‑class wine decades later at his winery, he carried the same philosophy into every endeavor: the patient comes first.

His impact was felt across the Cincinnati medical community, captured poignantly in the words of TriHealth Vascular Surgeon, Dr. Patrick Muck:

Dr. Fogarty’s passing is a profound loss to the medical community, but his legacy is woven into every minimally-invasive procedure and every device designed to put the patient first at TriHealth and beyond.