to visually examine inside a patient's arteries. Technology MediGuide St. Jude Medical produces MediGuide, a cardiac navigation and visualization technology that provides real-time fluoroscopic images. The system also gives doctors the ability to locate devices that are implanted with MediGuide-enabled sensors. MediGuide reduces the duration of a patients' radiation exposure during cardiovascular procedures. Nanostim In October 2013, the company acquired and began developing Nanostim leadless pacemakers. Nanostim technology consists of a miniaturized pacemaker implanted by a percutaneous, catheter-based procedure and placed into the heart. They are designed without the requirement for a lead, the thin wires inserted through a vein which connect the generator to the heart, or surgical pocket. CardioMEMS In June 2014, St. Jude Medical acquired and began developing CardioMEMS HF System, a wireless pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) monitoring technology. The wireless monitoring technology is used to assess cardiac performance via measurement of PAP and can be placed into the pulmonary artery. Controversies In December 2010, St. Jude Medical voluntarily stopped selling its Riata and Riata ST line of defibrillator leads over concerns that the leads were susceptible to insulation abrasion. The Food and Drug Administration issued a recall of the leads in November 2011. In May 2013, Population Health Research Institute (PHRI), an academic health science research institute, conducted an independent analysis of data received from ongoing prospective registries that monitor the performance of the Durata and Riata ST ICD leads. The results of the analysis found that the insulated leads had a 99.8 percent rate of freedom from all-cause insulation abrasion at 5 years. In January 2013, the Food and Drug Administration sent St. Jude Medical a warning letter detailing concerns regarding processes at the company's Sylmar, California facility. The letter was sent following inspections of the plant in September and October 2012. The letter did not raise any safety concerns about St. Jude Medical products. That same month the company sent the Food and Drug Administration a 34-page letter detailing the company's efforts to correct problems found during the October inspection. In 2014 a security vulnerability in St. Jude's pacemakers was reported by MedSec Holdings Ltd and confirmed by the FDA. References External links Official St. Jude Medical website 2017 mergers and acquisitions Health care companies based in Minnesota Defunct companies based in Minnesota Manufacturing companies based in Minnesota Health care companies established in 1976 Manufacturing companies established in 1976 American companies established in 1976