PROSTHETIC HEART VALVES
First Claim
1. A prosthetic heart valve comprising:
- an annular supporting structure including (1) an annular stent portion, and (2) a ring portion that is substantially concentric with the stent portion but that is downstream from the stent portion in the direction of blood flow when the valve is in use in a patient, the stent portion having a blood-outflow region that includes a plurality of annularly spaced commissure tips at which the stent portion is closest to the ring portion, the ring portion being connected to the stent portion substantially solely by flexible strut structures that extend from the stent portion to the ring portion adjacent to the commissure tips, each of the strut structures starting from a respective point or points on the stent structure that are farther from the ring portion than the commissure tips; and
a plurality of valve leaflets supported by the stent portion, the ring portion being downstream from the stent portion sufficiently far that the leaflets cannot contact the ring portion.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A prosthetic heart valve (10) (e.g., a prosthetic aortic valve) is designed to be somewhat circumferentially collapsible and then re-expandable. The collapsed condition may be used for less invasive delivery of the valve into a patient. When the valve reaches the implant site in the patient, it re-expands to normal operating size, and also to engage surrounding tissue of the patient. The valve includes a stent portion (200) and a ring portion (100) that is substantially concentric with the stent portion but downstream from the stent portion in the direction of blood flow through the implanted valve. When the valve is implanted, the stent portion engages the patient'"'"'s tissue at or near the native valve annulus, while the ring portion engages tissue downstream from the native valve site (e.g., the aorta).
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A prosthetic heart valve comprising:
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an annular supporting structure including (1) an annular stent portion, and (2) a ring portion that is substantially concentric with the stent portion but that is downstream from the stent portion in the direction of blood flow when the valve is in use in a patient, the stent portion having a blood-outflow region that includes a plurality of annularly spaced commissure tips at which the stent portion is closest to the ring portion, the ring portion being connected to the stent portion substantially solely by flexible strut structures that extend from the stent portion to the ring portion adjacent to the commissure tips, each of the strut structures starting from a respective point or points on the stent structure that are farther from the ring portion than the commissure tips; and a plurality of valve leaflets supported by the stent portion, the ring portion being downstream from the stent portion sufficiently far that the leaflets cannot contact the ring portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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17. The prosthetic heart valve defined in 12 further comprising:
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first sheet material interposed between each of the leaflets and the first ring member; and second sheet material interposed between each of the leaflets and the second ring member.
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25. A collapsible and re-expandable prosthetic heart valve comprising:
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a stent structure including (1) a plurality of commissure post members that are spaced from one another in a circumferential direction around the valve and that each extend in a direction of blood flow through the valve when it is implanted and in use in a patient, and (2) an inter-commissure structure that extends in the circumferential direction between each circumferentially adjacent pair of the commissure posts and that is collapsible and re-expandable in the circumferential direction; a web of flexible sheet material secured to the stent structure and extending in the circumferential direction around the stent structure; and a plurality of flexible leaflets that are initially separate from the stent structure and the sheet material, but that are each secured to the stent structure and the sheet material along an entire periphery of the leaflet except for one edge of each leaflet that remains free for meeting a similarly free edge of another of the leaflets in an interior of the valve. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification