Heart valve leaflet

• US 20020045936A1
• Filed: 08/27/2001
• Published: 04/18/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Corcym SRL (LivaNova Plc)
• Original Assignee: Riyad Moe
• Inventors: Moe, Riyad
• Granted Patent: US 6,666,885 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 623/2.17
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/2412 with soft flexible valve members, e.g. tissue valves shaped like natural valves check valves with flexible valve members in general F16K15/14
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/2415 Manufacturing methods
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2250/0036 differing in thickness

Abstract

A heart valve is disclosed which includes a valve body and a plurality of flexible leaflets coupled to the valve body. The plurality of leaflets can have an open position and a closed position. Each of the plurality of leaflets can comprise a belly when the plurality of leaflets are in their respective closed positions. The belly of one or more of the plurality of leaflets preferably has a continuous curvature except for two or more features.

Claims

1. A heart valve comprising

a valve body;

and

a plurality of flexible leaflets coupled to the valve body, each of the plurality of leaflets capable of having an open position and a closed position, wherein one or more of the plurality of leaflets comprises two or more features.

2. The heart valve of claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of leaflets comprises only two features.

3. The heart valve of claim 1, wherein the features are formed as part of the leaflets.

4. The heart valve of claim 1 wherein the two or more features each comprise a spine or a region that is thicker or thinner than the rest of the leaflet.

5. The heart valve of claim 1 wherein the two or more features comprise one or more of the group consisting of planar regions, semicircular regions, folded regions, peaked regions, ridged regions, regions that are thicker than the rest of the leaflet, regions that are thinner than the rest of the leaflet and sine-wave shaped regions.

6. The heart valve of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of the flexible leaflets has a line that extends from a bottom point of the leaflet to the center of the free margin.

7. The heart valve of claim 6 wherein the two or more features are symmetrically disposed around the line that extends from a bottom point of the leaflet to the center of the free margin.

8. The heart valve of claim 6 wherein the features are asymmetrically disposed around the line that extends from a bottom point of the leaflet to the center of the free margin.

9. The heart valve of claim 6 wherein the two or more features have axes, and wherein the axes are parallel or oblique to the line that extends from a bottom point of the leaflet to the center of the free margin.

10. A heart valve comprising

a valve body;

and

a plurality of flexible leaflets coupled to the valve body, the plurality of leaflets having an open position and a closed position, each of the plurality of leaflets comprising a belly when the plurality of leaflets are in their respective closed positions, the belly of one or more of the plurality of leaflets having a continuous curvature except for two non-continuous portions.

11. The heart valve of claim 11 wherein one or both of the non-continuous portions is generally cylindrical.

12. The heart valve of claim 11 wherein one or both of the non-continuous portions is generally planar.

13. The heart valve of claim 11 wherein the non-continuous portions have longitudinal axes and cross-sections of the non-continuous portions generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the non-continuous portions is generally V-shaped.

15. The heart valve of claim 15 wherein the thickness of the buckle-susceptible portions is less than the thickness of the remaining portion of the leaflet.

16. The heart valve of claim 15 wherein the thickness of the buckle-susceptible portion is not uniform.

17. The heart valve of claim 11 wherein the belly of the one or more of the plurality of leaflets is symmetrical about an axis, the non-continuous portions having longitudinal axes, the belly axis not coinciding with the axes of the non-continuous portions.

18. The heart valve of claim 11 wherein each of the one or more of the plurality of leaflets has a center of a free margin and a bottom point, the non-continuous portions having longitudinal axes extending along a line from the bottom point of the leaflet to the center of the free margin of the leaflet.

14. A heart valve comprising

a valve body;

and

a plurality of flexible leaflets coupled to the valve body, each leaflet having a thickness, one or more of the plurality of leaflets comprising two or more buckle-susceptible portions, the thickness of the buckle-susceptible portions being different from the thickness of the remaining portion of the leaflet.

19. A heart valve, comprising:

a valve body; and

a plurality of flexible leaflets coupled to the valve body, each leaflet having an open position and a closed position,

wherein one or more of the plurality of leaflets comprises two or more expansion features, the expansion features configured so that the leaflet has more surface area in the open position than it has in the closed position.