Medtronic

History

Year	Detail
1949	Medtronic was founded as a medical equipment repair shop by Earl Bakken and his brother-in-law, Palmer Hermundslie.
1957	The company developed the first external, battery-operated, transistorized, wearable artificial pacemaker.
1960	The company developed the first implantable pacemaker.
1977	Introduced prosthetic heart valve. It was a mechanical heart valve made of a single piece of titanium. The disk wass made of graphite with a carbon pyrolytic coating.
1979	The Medtronic Foundation was established, reinforcing a commitment to corporate citizenship.
1983	Medtronic collaborated with French doctors and expanded its expertise in neurostimulation systems to treat movement disorders.
1996	The company launched the first implantable cardioverter defibrillators, designed to treat tachycardia, a dangerously fast heartbeat.
2001	Medtronic acquired MiniMed, where a team of biomedical engineers had developed a continuous glucose monitor, a key component of a closed-loop diabetes management system.
2002	The company introduced the first remote monitoring system designed to securely transfer data from patient devices to doctors via the Internet.
2015	Medtronic completed the acquisition of Covidien to expand the capabilities of both companies.
2016	Medtronic Labs was launched as a social business to expand access to healthcare for underserved patients, families, and communities around the world.
2017	The company introduced the world's smallest implantable spinal cord stimulator. This rechargeable device gives an advantage over pain by offering unrivaled battery chemistry with >95% battery capacity at 9 years, personalized programming, and MRI access.
2019	Launched mazor x stealth edition system for robotic-assisted spine surgery. The device provides three-dimensional planning tools and real-time visualization in the operating room for guided procedures.
2020	Medtronic acquired a privately held medical device company, Avenu Medical, in the U.S.
2022	Medtronic partnered with CathWorks, a developer of coronary artery disease (CAD) technology. Under the agreement, Medtronic invested up to $75 million and immediately began co-promotion for CathWorks’ FFRangio system in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, where it is commercially available.
2024	The company has expanded the AiBLE spine surgery ecosystem with new technologies and a Siemens Healthineers partnership.