Certain Litigation Charges, Net (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Jan. 27, 2012	Jan. 28, 2011	Jan. 27, 2012	Jan. 28, 2011	Oct. 14, 2010 Sprint Fidelis	Jan. 27, 2012 Sprint Fidelis	Jan. 28, 2011 Sprint Fidelis	Apr. 29, 2011 Sprint Fidelis	Jan. 28, 2011 Other Litigation Matters
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Certain litigation charges, net	$ 0	$ 13	$ 0	$ 292			$ 292
Accounting charge for litigation								$ 221	$ 13
Settlement agreement					The Company announced on October 14, 2010 that it had entered into an agreement to settle nearly all U.S. lawsuits as well as certain unfiled claims. The parties subsequently reached an adjusted settlement agreement pursuant to which Medtronic waived its right to cancel the agreement and agreed to pay a total of $221 million to resolve over 14,000 filed and unfiled claims.	The parties subsequently reached an adjusted settlement agreement to pay a total of $221 million to resolve over 14,000 filed and unfiled claims and the Company paid out the settlement in the third quarter of fiscal year 2012. The Company also paid out the settlement in the third quarter of fiscal year 2012 from the reserve taken in fiscal year 2011 for the Other Matters litigation. See Note 20 for additional information.