Career
He began his career in 1964 at medical-device exporter Picker International. In 1967, he was hired away from Picker by Medtronic to become their first international sales administrator. In 1971 he launched Cardiac Pacemakers, Incorporated.
(Consumer price index).
A Communications Resource Management company that revolutionized the pacemaker industry by introducing a long life lithium iodine pacemaker, a technology still utilized by a majority of the market. Consumer price index was ultimately acquired by Eli Lilly & Company, which spun it out as Guidant, which in turn was recently acquired by Boston Scientific, Incorporated.
In 1976, he founded Saint Jude Medical where his team engineered the first bileaflet mechanical heart valve, which reduced the frequency of blood clots in patients. lieutenant still dominates the mechanical valve replacement market.
In 1982, Villafana founded GV Medical, which developed a device to open blood vessels open.
Then in 2000, he launched CABG Medical to pursue the creation of an artificial graft for coronary bypass surgery. The company closed in 2006.
In 2007, he launched Kips Bay Medical, a medical device company that focuses on proprietary external saphenous vein support technology for use in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery.
2009, 2011 Advances in Cardiothoracic Surgery Acts of the Apostles
2012 International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery ISMICS.
