Acquisitions and Acquisition-Related Items (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended						0 Months Ended			0 Months Ended		0 Months Ended			0 Months Ended		0 Months Ended
	Oct. 24, 2014	Oct. 25, 2013	Oct. 24, 2014	Oct. 25, 2013	Jul. 25, 2014	Apr. 25, 2014	Jul. 26, 2013	Apr. 26, 2013	Dec. 30, 2013 TYRX [Member]	Aug. 26, 2014 NGC Medical SpA [Member]	Aug. 26, 2014 NGC Medical SpA [Member]	Aug. 25, 2014 Sapiens Steering Brain Stimulation [Member]	Aug. 25, 2014 Sapiens Steering Brain Stimulation [Member]	Jul. 25, 2014 Visualase [Member]	Jun. 20, 2014 Corventis [Member]	Jun. 15, 2014 Covidien PLC [Member]	Aug. 26, 2014 Trade Names and Customer-Related Intangible Assets [Member] NGC Medical SpA [Member]	Aug. 26, 2014 Trade Names and Customer-Related Intangible Assets [Member] NGC Medical SpA [Member]	Dec. 30, 2013 Technology-Based Intangible Assets [Member] 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 Product Development Milestone [Member] TYRX [Member]	Dec. 30, 2013 Revenue-based Payments TYRX [Member]	Jun. 15, 2014 Covidien PLC [Member] New Medtronic [Member]	Nov. 13, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member]	Nov. 13, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Covidien PLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Preexisting Relationship, Ownership Percentage											30.00%
Acquisition Net Value of Transaction											$ 238,000,000
Cash Consideration Transferred Per Share																$ 35.19
Number of Securities Called by Each Share																0.956
Cash and stock value of pending acquisition																										46,500,000,000
Total consideration transferred									222,000,000	340,000,000		203,000,000		97,000,000	131,000,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired And Liabilities Assumed, In Process Research And Development													30,000,000
Settlement of outstanding debt to Medtronic included in consideration															50,000,000
Share Price																									$ 69.38
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Noncontrolling Owners																								30.00%
Transaction termination fee																850,000,000
Contingent Consideration	91,000,000	45,000,000	91,000,000	45,000,000	87,000,000	68,000,000	45,000,000	142,000,000														25,000,000	35,000,000
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired [Abstract]			578,000,000	210,000,000					159,000,000
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Range of Outcomes, Value, High																						40,000,000
Current assets									6,000,000		55,000,000		3,000,000
Property, plant and equipment									1,000,000		15,000,000		1,000,000
In Process Research and Development													30,000,000
Intangible assets									94,000,000		177,000,000							177,000,000	94,000,000	66,000,000	80,000,000
Goodwill	11,024,000,000		11,024,000,000			10,593,000,000			132,000,000		184,000,000		170,000,000	49,000,000	50,000,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Other Noncurrent Assets											2,000,000		3,000,000
Total assets acquired									233,000,000		433,000,000		207,000,000
Current liabilities									4,000,000		34,000,000		4,000,000
Long-term deferred tax liabilities									7,000,000		55,000,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Noncurrent Liabilities, Other											4,000,000
Total liabilities assumed									11,000,000		93,000,000		4,000,000
Net assets acquired									222,000,000		340,000,000		203,000,000
Acquisition-related items	$ 61,000,000	$ 0	$ 102,000,000	$ (96,000,000)
Other Disclosures
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life																	20 years		14 years	10 years	16 years