The Story

We all have a tendency to focus our attention on mankind’s astonishingly complex inventions. It’s why we all revere the Thomas Edisons or the Steve Jobs of the world and search the internet for every little latest, greatest technology we can find.

But sometimes, it’s just simple technologies that truly change the world. Think of what pasteurization did for public health, what mechanical clocks did for time, what seat belts did for car safety or what toilet paper on rolls did for everyone. These unheralded inventions maybe don’t appear incredibly complicated at first glance, but they nevertheless improved and saved the lives of countless people.

So what are the little-known technologies that hold the power right now to transform the world for the better tomorrows?  We developed the next simple invention to enable everyone to enjoy better health at reduced costs with improved daily patient compliance for wellness programs — The CODAmeds^® Dispenser.

At St. Jude Medical they are inventors too, driven by a passion for saving and improving lives through medical technology.

With their visionary imagination, exhaustive research and unrelenting development at St. Jude Medical they invented the St. Jude Medical Bi-leaflet Prosthetic Heart Valve in 1977 which saved my life in 2007, thirty years later.

Today, in 2017, forty years later, their straightforward, uncomplicated valve design in part inspired me during my lengthy development phase to really focus on how to engineer a simple mechanical solution to sort and dispense pills. The CODAmeds^® Dispenser evolved which helps people maintain a regular schedule for medications and vitamins for a healthy heart lifestyle.

We invite you to take a quick 4 minute tour of the St. Jude Medical manufacturing facility.

St. Jude Medical mechanical valves are quite remarkable as they’re structurally designed to last a lifetime, for patients of any age. They do not wear out or break down, which means once you have the bileaflet heart valve implanted, it should not deteriorate and require a reoperation. Some patients with a mechanical heart valve have said that they hear a clicking sound during quiet or resting times. If you hear this sound, be assured; it means that everything is working fine. The clicking is actually the sound of the mechanical valve leaflets closing.

¹Remadi JP, Baron O, Roussel C, et al. Isolated mitral valve replacement with St. Jude Medical prosthesis: long-term results; a follow-up of 19 years. Circ. 2001;103:1542-1545.

²Arom KV, Emery RW, Petersen B, et al. St. Jude Medical valve prosthesis: health status of the patients after 15 years. Ann Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 1996;2:43-49.

³Emery RW, Krogh CC, Arolm KV, Emery AM, et al. The St. Jude Medical cardiac valve prosthesis: a 25-year experience with a single valve replacement. Ann Thorac Surg 2005:79:776-83.