From the shadow of Boston's celebrated biotech industry, a lesser known sibling is emerging — the powerful medical device industry, which generates annual shipments from Massachusetts of at least $5.5 billion, up from $4 billion in 1997. Many of the devices are used in advanced medical procedures that save lives or greatly improve the quality of a patient's life.

Throughout Greater Boston, the medical device industry has quietly surged over the past decade as giant companies like London-based Smith & Nephew, Johnson & Johnson and HP/Philips, based in the Netherlands, swooped in to buy up local manufacturers. The industry developed in old machine shops and low-profile medical office and industrial buildings in suburban cities like Waltham, Mansfield, Attleboro and Andover.

As Greater Boston braces for recessionary winds in 2009, the robust medical device industry has helped position the region to weather the economic storm. Not only are many medical device firms holding their own in retaining revenue, but some are expanding. Covidien, a global provider of health care products based in Mansfield, Mass., about 20 miles southwest of Boston, is outgrowing its 470,000 sq. ft. headquarters.

“We're actually looking to expand that property. We have a proposal in with the Town of Mansfield to add another 115,000 sq. ft.,” says Bruce Farmer, vice president. In fiscal 2008, the company generated net income of $1.4 billion. It has 41,000 employees in 59 countries.

Until now, Covidien has leased its Mansfield facilities, but it plans to spend $7 million to buy the new building, mainly for research and development. The company will spend millions in renovation, bringing the total investment to about $50 million, Farmer says. Covidien makes devices used in laparoscopic surgery, as well as sutures, ventilators and products used in X-ray imaging. It occupies a mix of office and industrial space.

Another company powering the sector in Greater Boston is Smith & Nephew, the United Kingdom's largest medical technology firm, with 2007 global revenue of $3.4 billion. It specializes in orthopedic trauma and reconstruction products.

There is no indication of a retrenchment in production for 2009, says Joe Metzger, senior vice president of Smith & Nephew's Endoscopy Division in Andover, Mass. “Like everyone else we'll be watching to see what effect the economy may have.”

But demand has not subsided. “People are having elective surgeries, people get hurt, and they still need to get better and have a more active lifestyle,” Metzger says. “People talk about getting scoped.” In this procedure, surgeons go in with an arthroscope through a small incision and do minimally invasive surgery. Many of the firm's products are made in Mansfield.

That facility was expanded in 2002 from 60,000 sq. ft. Today, about 60% of the leased 100,000 sq. ft. is used for manufacturing, while another 100,000 sq. ft. in Andover houses the company's endoscopy division headquarters.

Wealth of brainpower

The availability of teaching hospitals and world-class academic institutions, from Massachusetts General Hospital to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), plays an important role in attracting medical device companies, as does the cluster of medical technology firms.