Medtronic was founded by two unlikely heroes from Columbia Heights, Minnesota. One, Earl Bakken, a curious inventor who was fascinated with electricity at an early age. The other, Palmer Hermundslie, a tireless go-getter with an eye for business opportunities.
Did these two men set out to change medical technology and the lives of millions of people? No. But they did have a deep moral purpose and an inner drive to use their scientific knowledge and entrepreneurial skills to help others. In 1949, the two started a repair business focused on medical electronics, hnce, the name Medtronic.
Over a span of 60 years, Medtronic has grown from a tiny electrical repair shop in a Minneapolis garage to the global leader in medical technology. Medtronic has developed an unprecedented breadth and depth of innovative therapies. Our therapies treat many of the world’s most pressing chronic conditions with minimally invasive options and advanced technologies. In 1967, our therapies treated just four conditions. In 2012, we have technologies that treat nearly 40 medical conditions.
And it’s the reason millions of people’s lives are improved by a Medtronic product or therapy each year. Every four seconds, somewhere in the world, another life is improved by a Medtronic product or therapy.
At Medtronic Diabetes, our 20 plus year history vividly reflects our dedication and ongoing vision to develop an "artificial pancreas".
In 1993, we pioneered the idea of continuous insulin delivery, introducing our first insulin pump in an effort to find a "better way" to deliver insulin for people with diabetes. Since that time, Medtronic Diabetes has remained the market leader, earning a reputation for excellence in insulin pump therapy and continuous glucose monitoring.
- We were the first to introduce continuous glucose monitoring products to the market and the only to offer an FDA approved device for professionals.
- We are the only company working towards delivering the first artificial pancreas onto the market within the next few years.
- We are committed to refining our support services and tools to build our patients' trust and confidence.
Our advanced insulin pump therapy, combined with our continuous glucose monitoring products delivers state-of-the-art diabetes management solutions to people with diabetes – not only today, but well into the future.The Medtronic strategic vision is to address the three key universal healthcare needs:
- improve outcomes for better care,
- increase access to therapies so more people get treated, and
- improve the efficiency of healthcare delivery to reduce overall costs.
In July 2008 NICE issued TA151 Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion for the Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus. Within the document NICE recommended that insulin pump therapy should be made available to those patients with Type 1 diabetes who fit the clinical criteria for selection, i.e. For children (12 years and under) “CSII therapy should be recommended as a treatment option without an intensive trial of MDI therapy if such a trial was felt
clinically inappropriate or impractical” NICE TA151 4.3.8 For adults “CSII therapy is recommended as a treatment option for adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus when attempts to achieve target HbA1c levels, typically 7.5%, with MDI therapy result in the person experiencing disabling hypoglycaemia” NICE TA151 4.3.7
Medtronic Diabetes UK is a healthcare provider that helps the NHS address all three key needs and strive to implement NICE TA151. As innovative partners for life we support Diabetes Clinics all over UK and Ireland, working closely with Diabetes Teams implementing innovative technologies to allow continuation of therapy at all times and to empower and educate both patients and Health Care Practitioners so that all who have access to Insulin Pumps remain confident and competent in this therapy.
Our unique CareLink system allows for remote based monitoring allowing flexibility for both the patient and the Health Care Practitioner as well as improving safety for patients with clear data recording of all events to allow diagnoses and treatment options.
Medtronic leads the way in offering a complete integrated system of both pump therapy and continuous glucose monitoring. For the patient this offers peace of mind, lifestyle flexibility and improved health outcomes whilst for the Health Care Practitioner this enables them to identify glucose excursion patterns, improve care and safety for their patients and provide improved clinical outcomes for their patients.
By using Medtronic diabetes products, patients can have better control of their diabetes with long term benefits and Health Care Professionals can be reassured that the therapy they offer will not only provide pump patients safer and better control of their diabetes but will enable them to deliver on that pump therapy for every suitable patient.
Medtronic Limited
Building 9
Croxley Green Business Park
Hatters Lane
Watford, Hertfordshire
WD18 8WW
Tel. +44 (0)1923 212213
Fax +44 (0)1923 241004
Web: www.medtronic.co.uk