In 1984, the National Society of Professional Engineers selected the first wearable pacemaker - developed by Medtronic - as one of the 10 outstanding engineering products of the previous half-century. (Other products cited included the computer, the transistor, and the laser.) Adding to its list of "firsts," Medtronic and its medical partners have also introduced the following:

The Activitrax rate responsive, activity sensing pacemaker revolutionized cardiac pacing with its unique sensor technology.

• Multiprogrammable pacemakers
• Rate responsive pacemakers
• "Spring coil" transvenous pacing leads
• Sutureless pacing leads
• Tined pacing leads
• Tiered-therapy implantable cardioverter-defibrillators
• Implantable, programmable neurostimulation devices to control chronic pain and uncontrolled tremor
• Implantable, externally programmable drug delivery systems
• Modular coronary stents
• Distal protection systems
• Wearable continuous glucose monitoring systems
• Multiple basal and bolus programming features in ambulatory external insulin pumps
• Implantable neurostimulators for bladder and bowel control problems
• Transurethral needle ablation for benign prostatic hyperplasia or "enlarged prostate"
• Bi-ventricular pacing/cardiac resynchronization devices for heart failure
• Internet-based system that allows cardiac device patients to transmit data from their implanted devices