| **Segment And Geographic Information**      | 6 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
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| **Segments, Geographical Areas [Abstract]** |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| Segment And Geographic Information          | SEGMENT AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATIONSegment InformationThe Company’s four operating segments are Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM), Cardiovascular (CV), Atrial Fibrillation (AF) and Neuromodulation (NMD). The primary products produced by each operating segment are: CRM – tachycardia implantable cardioverter defibrillator systems (ICDs) and bradycardia pacemaker systems (pacemakers); CV – vascular products, which include vascular closure products, pressure measurement guidewires, optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging products, vascular plugs and other vascular accessories, and structural heart products, which include heart valve replacement and repair products and structural heart defect devices; AF – electrophysiology (EP) introducers and catheters, advanced cardiac mapping, navigation and recording systems and ablation systems; and NMD – neurostimulation products, which include spinal cord and deep brain stimulation devices.The Company has aggregated the four operating segments into two reportable segments based upon their similar operational and economic characteristics: CRM/NMD and CV/AF. Net sales of the Company’s reportable segments include end-customer revenues from the sale of products they each develop and manufacture or distribute. The costs included in each of the reportable segments’ operating results include the direct costs of the products sold to customers and operating expenses managed by each of the reportable segments. Certain expenses managed by the Company’s selling and corporate functions, including all stock-based compensation expense, impairment charges, certain acquisition-related charges, in-process research and development (IPR&D) charges, excise tax expense and special charges have not been recorded in the individual reportable segments. As a result, reportable segment operating profit is not representative of the operating profit of the products in these reportable segments. Additionally, certain assets are managed by the Company’s selling and corporate functions, principally including trade receivables, inventory, cash and cash equivalents, certain marketable securities and deferred income taxes. For management reporting purposes, the Company does not compile capital expenditures by reportable segment; therefore, this information has not been presented, as it is impracticable to do so.The following table presents net sales and operating profit by reportable segment (in millions): CRM/NMD CV/AF Other TotalThree Months ended June 30, 2012:       Net sales$852 $558 $— $1,410Operating profit567 309 (538) 338Three Months ended July 2, 2011:       Net sales$896 $550 $— $1,446Operating profit565 289 (529) 325        Six Months ended June 30, 2012:       Net sales$1,690 $1,115 $— $2,805Operating profit1,124 617 (1,101) 640Six Months ended July 2, 2011:       Net sales$1,750 $1,072 $— $2,822Operating profit1,101 553 (1,007) 647The following table presents the Company’s total assets by reportable segment (in millions):Total AssetsJune 30, 2012 December 31, 2011CRM/NMD$2,347 $2,412CV/AF2,977 3,093Other3,862 3,500 $9,186 $9,005Geographic InformationThe following table presents net sales by geographic location of the customer (in millions): Three Months Ended Six Months EndedNet SalesJune 30, 2012 July 2, 2011 June 30, 2012 July 2, 2011United States$664 $678 $1,329 $1,354International       Europe374 411 748 780Japan163 157 328 304Asia Pacific116 106 221 199Other93 94 179 185 746 768 1,476 1,468 $1,410 $1,446 $2,805 $2,822The amounts for long-lived assets by significant geographic market include net property, plant and equipment by physical location of the asset as follows (in millions):Long-Lived AssetsJune 30, 2012 December 31, 2011United States$1,036 $1,007International   Europe77 84Japan32 31Asia Pacific83 81Other185 185 377 381 $1,413 $1,388 |

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| - Definition
The entire disclosure for reporting segments including data and tables. Reportable segments include those that meet any of the following quantitative thresholds a) it's reported revenue, including sales to external customers and intersegment sales or transfers is 10 percent or more of the combined revenue, internal and external, of all operating segments b) the absolute amount of its reported profit or loss is 10 percent or more of the greater, in absolute amount of 1) the combined reported profit of all operating segments that did not report a loss or 2) the combined reported loss of all operating segments that did report a loss c) its assets are 10 percent or more of the combined assets of all operating segments.
+ References
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