Acquisitions and Acquisition-Related Items (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended					0 Months Ended				0 Months Ended							0 Months Ended		0 Months Ended
	Jul. 25, 2014	Jul. 26, 2013	Jun. 13, 2014	Apr. 25, 2014	Apr. 26, 2013	Jul. 25, 2014 Visualase [Member]	Jun. 20, 2014 Corventis [Member]	Jun. 15, 2014 Covidien PLC [Member]	Jun. 13, 2014 Covidien PLC [Member]	Dec. 30, 2013 TYRX [Member]	Jul. 25, 2014 Technology-Based Intangible Assets [Member] Visualase [Member]	Jun. 20, 2014 Technology-Based Intangible Assets [Member] Corventis [Member]	Dec. 30, 2013 Technology-Based Intangible Assets [Member] TYRX [Member]	Dec. 30, 2013 Product Development Milestone [Member] TYRX [Member]	Dec. 30, 2013 Revenue-based Payments TYRX [Member]	Jun. 15, 2014 Covidien PLC [Member] New Medtronic [Member]	Aug. 26, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] NGC Medical SpA [Member]	Aug. 26, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] NGC Medical SpA [Member]	Aug. 25, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Sapiens Steering Brain Stimulation [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Preexisting Relationship, Ownership Percentage																		30.00%
Cash Consideration Transferred Per Share								$ 35.19
Number of Securities Called by Each Share								0.956
Cash and stock value of pending acquisition									$ 42,900,000,000
Total consideration transferred						97,000,000	131,000,000			222,000,000							238,000,000		200,000,000
Settlement of outstanding debt to Medtronic included in consideration							50,000,000
Share Price			$ 60.70
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Noncontrolling Owners																30.00%
Transaction termination fee								850,000,000
Contingent Consideration	87,000,000	45,000,000		68,000,000	142,000,000									25,000,000	35,000,000
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired [Abstract]	146,000,000	17,000,000								159,000,000
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Range of Outcomes, Value, High														40,000,000
Current assets										6,000,000
Property, plant and equipment										1,000,000
Intangible assets										94,000,000	66,000,000	80,000,000	94,000,000
Goodwill	10,696,000,000			10,593,000,000		49,000,000	50,000,000			132,000,000
Total assets acquired										233,000,000
Current liabilities										4,000,000
Long-term deferred tax liabilities										7,000,000
Total liabilities assumed										11,000,000
Net assets acquired										222,000,000
Acquisition-related items	$ 41,000,000	$ (96,000,000)
Other Disclosures
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life											10 years	16 years	14 years