Medtronic, Inc. , based in Fridley, Minnesota, is one of the world's largest medical technology companies. Listed among Fortune 500 companies, Medtronic is a publicly traded company, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MDT. The company was founded in 1949 by Earl Bakken and Palmer Hermundslie , and is credited with manufacturing the first wearable artificial pacemakers. However, they started off with much more modest intentions, acting as a repair company, servicing medical equipment in local hospitals.
Medtronic followed a path familiar to technology historians, starting in a garage. In Medtronic's case, the garage was in northern Minneapolis, which became quite cold at certain times of year. The company expanded through the 1950s, mostly selling equipment built by other companies, but some custom hardware was also developed. The employees eventually came to know Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, a noted heart surgeon who was then at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Lillehei was frustrated with the pacemakers of the day, which relied on wall current to operate. This was extremely troublesome because power outages would cause patients to die.
Bakken built a small transistorized pacemaker that could be strapped to the body and powered by batteries. Work into this new field continued, producing an implantable pacemaker in 1960.
The company has continued to innovate in the medical business, and is considered an economically-important company for Minnesota.
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