COMMISSURE ATTACHMENT FEATURES FOR IMPROVED DELIVERY FLEXIBILITY AND TRACKING

• US 20150066141A1
• Filed: 09/03/2014
• Published: 03/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division Incorporated (Abbott Laboratories Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division Incorporated (Abbott Laboratories Incorporated)
• Inventors: Braido, Peter N., McCarthy, Andrea L., Fahim, Mina S.
• Granted Patent: US 9,968,448 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 623/2.17
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/2418 Scaffolds therefor, e.g. support stents
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2220/0075 sutured, ligatured or stitched, retained or tied with a rope, string, thread, wire or cable

Abstract

A prosthetic heart valve includes a collapsible and expandable stent having a proximal end and a distal end. A plurality of commissure attachment features (“CAFs”) is disposed on the stent, with each CAF including a body and a plurality of eyelets. The eyelets may be arranged in a single column or in a plurality of rows and columns. The prosthetic heart valve also includes a collapsible and expandable valve assembly including a plurality of leaflets connected to the plurality of commissure attachment features. The bodies of the CAFs may include a number of other features including, for example, a slot extending between columns of eyelets.

Claims

1. A prosthetic heart valve, comprising:

a collapsible and expandable stent having a proximal end and a distal end, the stent including a plurality of struts defining a plurality of open cells;

a plurality of commissure attachment features disposed on the stent, each commissure attachment feature including a body and a plurality of eyelets arranged in at least two rows and at least two columns, the body including a slot extending from a distal end of the body between two of the columns of eyelets toward a proximal end of the body, the slot dividing the body into a first portion and a second portion; and

a collapsible and expandable valve assembly including a plurality of leaflets connected to the plurality of commissure attachment features,

wherein at least one of the struts is connected to a distal end of the first portion of the body, and at least another of the struts is connected to a distal end of the second portion of the body.

2. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 1, wherein the slot extends along a longitudinal axis of the body.

3. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 1, wherein the body includes an elongated eyelet positioned proximally of the plurality of eyelets.

4. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 3, wherein a proximal end of the slot is positioned distal to the elongated eyelet.

5. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 4, wherein the proximal end of the slot is positioned proximally of the plurality of eyelets.

6. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 3, wherein a proximal end of the slot is positioned distal to the eyelets in at least one row.

7. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 1, further comprising a first slot recess positioned in the slot.

8. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 7, wherein the first slot recess is generally semi-circular and formed in the first portion of the body.

9. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 7, wherein the first slot recess includes a first generally semi-circular recess portion formed in the first portion of the body and a second generally semi-circular recess portion formed in the second portion of the body.

10. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 9, wherein, for each row of eyelets, a space is defined between a proximal boundary of each eyelet in the row and a distal boundary of each eyelet in the row, and the first slot recess is not positioned entirely within any of the spaces.

11. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 9, further comprising a second slot recess positioned in the slot, the second slot recess including a third generally semi-circular recess portion formed in the first portion of the body and a fourth generally semi-circular recess portion formed in the second portion of the body.

12. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 11, wherein, for each row of eyelets, a space is defined between a proximal boundary of each eyelet in the row and a distal boundary of each eyelet in the row, and neither the first slot recess nor the second slot recess is positioned entirely within any of the spaces.

13. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 1, further comprising a first body recess formed in a first edge of the body opposite the slot, the first body recess being generally semi-circular.

14. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 13, wherein, for each row of eyelets, a space is defined between a proximal boundary of each eyelet in the row and a distal boundary of each eyelet in the row, and the first body recess is not positioned entirely within any of the spaces.

15. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 13, further comprising a second body recess formed in a second edge of the body opposite the slot, the second body recess being generally semi-circular.

16. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 15, wherein, for each row of eyelets, a space is defined between a proximal boundary of each eyelet in the row and a distal boundary of each eyelet in the row, and neither the first body recess nor the second body recess is positioned entirely within any of the spaces.

17. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 1, wherein the plurality of eyelets comprises four eyelets arranged in two rows and two columns and a fifth elongated eyelet positioned proximally of the four eyelets.

18. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 1, further comprising:

a first protrusion near a proximal end of the body, the first protrusion extending laterally from a first edge of the body in a first direction; and

a second protrusion near the proximal end of the body, the second protrusion extending laterally from a second edge of the body in a second direction opposite the first direction.

19. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 18, wherein the first protrusion extends farther laterally from the first edge of the body than any other portion of the first edge of the body and the second protrusion extends farther laterally from the second edge of the body than any other portion of the second edge of the body.

20. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 1, wherein the proximal end of the body includes at least one projection extending circumferentially away from a longitudinal axis of the body farther than any other portion of the body.

21. A prosthetic heart valve, comprising:

a collapsible and expandable stent having a proximal end and a distal end, the stent including a plurality of struts defining a plurality of open cells;

a plurality of commissure attachment features disposed on the stent, each commissure attachment feature including a body having a longitudinal axis and a plurality of eyelets arranged in one column, the plurality of eyelets including a generally rectangular proximalmost eyelet and at least two generally rectangular eyelets positioned distal to the proximalmost eyelet, the at least two distal eyelets each being wider than the proximalmost eyelet; and

a collapsible and expandable valve assembly including a plurality of leaflets connected to the plurality of commissure attachment features.

22. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 21, wherein the proximalmost eyelet and the at least two distal eyelets are each centered along the longitudinal axis of the body.

23. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 21, wherein the at least two distal eyelets are substantially identical to one another.

24. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 21, wherein a proximal end of the body includes at least one projection extending circumferentially away from the longitudinal axis of the body farther than any other portion of the body.

25. A prosthetic heart valve, comprising:

a collapsible and expandable stent having a proximal end and a distal end, the stent including a plurality of struts defining a plurality of open cells;

a plurality of commissure attachment features disposed on the stent, each commissure attachment feature including a body having a longitudinal axis and a plurality of eyelets arranged in at least two rows and at least two columns, at least one of the eyelets having an open side; and

a collapsible and expandable valve assembly including a plurality of leaflets connected to the plurality of commissure attachment features.

26. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 25, wherein at least four of the plurality of eyelets are generally rectangular, each of the at least four eyelets having an open side.

27. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 26, further comprising protrusions on portions of the body on proximal and distal sides of each of the at least four eyelets, the protrusions extending generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body adjacent the open sides of the eyelets.

28. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 25, wherein a proximal end of the body includes at least one projection extending circumferentially away from the longitudinal axis of the body farther than any other portion of the body.