Percutaneously delivered heart valve and delivery means thereof

• US 20040034411A1
• Filed: 08/16/2002
• Published: 02/19/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Medtronic 3F Therapeutics, Inc. (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: 3F Therapeutics Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Tu, Hosheng, Quijano, Rodolfo C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,041,132 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 623/2.11
• 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 2/2418 Scaffolds therefor, e.g. support stents
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/243 Deployment by mechanical expansion

Abstract

This invention discloses a percutaneous delivered heart valve and delivery means thereof, wherein the percutaneous delivered heart valve is a twistedly foldable heart valve prosthesis comprising a generally cylindrical support element with a diameter, wherein the support element is twistedly foldable to a smaller diameter, a flexible heart valve with a plurality of valvular leaflets releasably attached to said support element, and a receptacle having a plurality of connecting members secured to the cylindrical support element, wherein the receptacle is releasably matched to an expanding element capable of untwisting the receptacle adapted for un-twisting and unfolding said heart valve.

Claims

1. A method for minimally invasively delivering a foldable heart valve prosthesis into a patient, the foldable heart valve prosthesis comprising a twistedly foldable support element and a heart valve releasably secured to said support element, said method comprising:

twistedly folding said support element with the secured heart valve within a lumen of a delivery apparatus;

delivering said delivery apparatus to a target valvular annulus of the patient; and

un-twisting said support element to unfold and deploy said heart valve in place.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the delivery apparatus comprises a catheter.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the delivery step is carried out with said catheter through an opening selected from a group consisting of a carotid artery, ajugular vein, a subclavian vein, and a body vessel.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the delivery apparatus comprises a cannula.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the delivery step is carried out with said cannula through a percutaneous intercostal penetration.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising a step of removing at least a portion of a patient'"'"'s heart valve by means of a cutting tool introduced through the percutaneous intercostal penetration and through an internal penetration on a cardiac wall before the twistedly folding step.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of removing is carried out by providing radiofrequency energy to the cutting tool.

8. The method of claim 5 further comprising a step of fastening the unfolded heart valve within the valvular annulus by means of an instrument introduced through the percutaneous intercostal penetration and through an internal penetration on a cardiac wall after the un-twisting step.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising a step of removing the support element after the un-twisting step.

10. A twistedly foldable heart valve prosthesis to replace a diseased valve of a patient comprising:

a generally cylindrical support element with a diameter, wherein the support element is twistedly foldable to a smaller diameter;

a flexible heart valve with a plurality of valvular leaflets releasably attached to said support element; and

a receptacle having a plurality of connecting members secured to the cylindrical support element, wherein the receptacle is releasably matched to an expanding element capable of matching and untwisting the receptacle adapted for un-twisting and unfolding said heart valve.

11. The heart valve prosthesis of claim 10, wherein the flexible heart valve is made of tissue material.

12. The heart valve prosthesis of claim 11, wherein the tissue material is pericardium tissue selected from a group consisting of equine, bovine, porcine, and ovine.

13. The heart valve prosthesis of claim 11, wherein the tissue material is chemically treated to reduce antigenicity of said tissue material.

14. The heart valve prosthesis of claim 13, wherein the tissue material is chemically treated with a chemical selected from a group consisting of glutaraldehyde, formaldehyde, dialdehyde starch, and polyepoxy compounds.

15. The heart valve prosthesis of claim 10, wherein the flexible heart valve is made of a material selected from a polymer group consisting of silicone, polyurethane, latex, and mixture thereof.

16. The heart valve prosthesis of claim 10, wherein the cylindrical support element further comprises a plurality of anchoring members for anchoring said support element onto annular tissue of the diseased valve.

17. The heart valve prosthesis of claim 16, wherein the anchoring members are triggered for facing outwardly when the support element is untwisted.

18. The heart valve prosthesis of claim 10, wherein the diseased valve is an aortic valve.

19. The heart valve prosthesis of claim 10, wherein the diseased valve is a pulmonary valve

20. The heart valve prosthesis of claim 10, wherein the diseased valve is an atrioventricular valve.

21. The heart valve prosthesis of claim 11, wherein said flexible heart valve is an atrioventricular valve comprising a plurality of cusps, each cusp having a semicircular tip edge and two generally straight side edges that are joined at said semicircular tip edge, wherein each of said straight side edges is trimmed and configured at an angle of about less than 20 degrees from a reference central longitudinal line of said cusp.

22. The heart valve prosthesis of claim 10, wherein the expanding element is made of a material selected from a group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, polycarbonate, nylon, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyurethane, stainless steel, Nitinol, titanium, polyimide, polyester, and mixture thereof.

23. The heart valve prosthesis of claim 10, wherein the support element is made of a material selected from a group consisting of stainless steel, Nitinol, titanium, gold, and shape-memory material.

24. A method for minimally invasively delivering a foldable heart valve into a patient, said method comprising:

folding said valve within a lumen of delivery means for delivering said valve to a target valvular annulus of the patient; and

unfolding said valve in place by a balloon catheter, wherein a differentially expandable balloon of the balloon catheter is configured to expand the folded heart valve into an oval unfolded valve.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein said differentially expandable balloon comprises a longitudinal axis, a major traverse axis and a minor traverse axis, the major traverse axis being at least 10% longer than the minor traverse axis.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein said differentially expandable balloon is delivered through a percutaneous intercostal penetration of the patient.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein said differentially expandable balloon is delivered through an opening selected from a group consisting of a carotid artery, a jugular vein, a subclavian vein, and a body vessel.