[2] Shiley began working at Edwards Laboratories, located in Orange County, California, south of Los Angeles, the first manufacturer of artificial heart-valves.

Some years later, Shiley improved his design in cooperation with Swedish heart surgeon Viking Björk, which led to the first tilting disc heart-valve, resulting in a much better flow of blood through the valve.

Shiley Labs developed and manufactured other products, especially tracheal and endotracheal tubes for respiration after surgery in the mouth or throat, and during anesthesia.

[citation needed] The Björk–Shiley heart valve underwent several improvements in the following years, primarily in the degree of opening of the disc, thus reducing turbulence in the bloodstream.

Shiley was married twice: to Pat, the mother of his four children and who died in middle-age;[1] and to Darlene Marcos.