On Nov. 18, 2010, AGA Medical was acquired by St. Jude Medical for $1.3 billion in cash. The company, based in Plymouth, Minnesota, designed and sold small devices that closed defects in the heart. The company was founded by Kurt Amplatz, MD and son-in-law Frank Gougeon in 1997.

Amplatz invented the Amplatzer Septal Occluder that is inserted by percutaneous catheter placement, thus avoiding open heart surgery. Amplatz, who was a professor of radiology at the University of Minnesota from 1957 to 1997, was a world-renowned pioneer in interventional radiology and pediatric cardiology.