| **Product and Geographic Information (Schedule of Long-Lived Assets By Geographic Location) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions** | Jan. 02, 2016 | Jan. 03, 2015 | Dec. 28, 2013 |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
| **Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]**                                                         |          |          |          |
| Long-Lived Assets                                                                                                               | $ 1,320       | $ 1,343       | $ 1,410       |
| United States [Member]                                                                                                          |          |          |          |
| **Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]**                                                         |          |          |          |
| Long-Lived Assets                                                                                                               | 1,011         | 1,005         | 1,045         |
| Other foreign countries [Member]                                                                                                |          |          |          |
| **Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]**                                                         |          |          |          |
| Long-Lived Assets                                                                                                               | $ 309         | $ 338         | $ 365         |

| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Long-lived assets other than financial instruments, long-term customer relationships of a financial institution, mortgage and other servicing rights, deferred policy acquisition costs, and deferred tax assets.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 41 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=51669610&loc=d3e9038-108599
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_NoncurrentAssets**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**debit**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_RevenuesFromExternalCustomersAndLongLivedAssetsLineItems**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:stringItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                    |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**us-gaap_StatementGeographicalAxis=country_US**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |
| X                                                                                                                                                  |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**us-gaap_StatementGeographicalAxis=stj_OtherCountriesMember**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |