Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended					6 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Jun. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2014
Goodwill [Line Items]
Intangible asset impairment charges	$ 10	$ 9	$ 12				$ 19	$ 177
Research and Development in Process			16		$ 6
Asset Impairment Charges				$ 110	55
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	10,905						10,905		$ 9,800
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization	(4,890)						(4,890)		(4,572)
Indefinite-lived intangible assets, including goodwill	16,581						16,581		16,176
Indefinite-lived intangible assets, accumulated write-offs	(9,900)						(9,900)		(9,900)
Goodwill	6,468						6,468		5,898
Goodwill, Purchase Accounting Adjustments							2
Goodwill, Acquired During Period							568
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss	(9,900)						(9,900)		(9,900)
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment charge							0
Core technology	8			8	$ 64
Electrophysiology [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Hypothetical change in WACC						0.50%
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Hypothetical change in revenue growth rates						1.50%
Global CRM Reporting Unit [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Reporting Unit, Percentage of Fair Value in Excess of Carrying Amount		26.00%				26.00%
Cardiovascular [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill	3,426						3,426		3,426
Goodwill, Purchase Accounting Adjustments							0
Goodwill, Acquired During Period							0
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss	(1,479)						(1,479)		(1,479)
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment charge							0
Rhythm Management [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill	292						292		290
Goodwill, Purchase Accounting Adjustments							2
Goodwill, Acquired During Period							0
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss	(6,960)						(6,960)		(6,960)
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment charge							0
MedSurg [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill	2,750						2,750		2,182
Goodwill, Purchase Accounting Adjustments							0
Goodwill, Acquired During Period							568
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss	(1,461)						(1,461)		(1,461)
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment charge							0
Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Reporting Unit, Percentage of Fair Value in Excess of Carrying Amount		28.00%				28.00%
Allocated Goodwill		$ 292
Unclassified Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill, Gross	16,368						16,368		15,798
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss	(9,900)						(9,900)		(9,900)
Technology-related [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets (Excluding Goodwill)	120						120		197
In-process research and development [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets (Excluding Goodwill)	93						93		181
Core technology [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Intangible asset impairment charges			8
In Process Research and Development [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Intangible asset impairment charges			$ 4
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Intangible assets reclassified from unamortizable to amortizable	1						77
Technology-related [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	8,874						8,874		8,406
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization	(3,952)						(3,952)		(3,697)
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Intangible assets reclassified from unamortizable to amortizable	77
Patents [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	519						519		519
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization	(354)						(354)		(342)
Other Intangible Assets [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	1,512						1,512		875
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization	$ (584)						$ (584)		$ (533)
Vessix Charges [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Asset Impairment Charges				67
Atritech Charges [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Asset Impairment Charges				35
Other In-process Research and Development Project Charges [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Asset Impairment Charges				$ 8
Minimum [Member] | In Process Research and Development [Member]
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Rate		16.50%	16.50%	16.50%
Maximum [Member] | In Process Research and Development [Member]
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Rate		20.00%	20.00%	20.00%
In Process Research and Development 2 [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Research and Development in Process		$ 6		$ 83
In Process Research and Development [Member]
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Rate					20.00%
Core technology [Member]
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Rate	10.00%			15.00%	15.00%