Commitments And Contingencies (Narrative) (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified				9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 29, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 29, 2012 Silzone Product Liability Insurance [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 VolcanoCorpvs.Lightlab [Member] D	Sep. 29, 2012 Ontario Class Action Matters [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 Individual Ontario Case [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 British Columbia Class Action Matters [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 VolcanoCorpvs.St.JudeMedical [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 Regulatory Matters Sylmar, CA [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Current debt obligations	$ 540	$ 83
days of legal notice				45
Number of outstanding class actions					1	1
Number of proposed class actions							1
Minimum damage loss claimed						1
Remaining insurance coverage for Silzone claims			13
Number of insurance carriers			2
Estimated future contingent consideration	$ 10
Number of claims expected to be appealed								3
Number of Form 483 Observations									11