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Frame support for cardiac tissue valves

  • US 4,259,753 A
  • Filed: 05/29/1979
  • Issued: 04/07/1981
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/16/1979
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A frame for tissue valves to be used in cardiac surgery of the type including a substantially cylindrical, hollow body fabricated from a semi-flexible, plastic material, a medical grade fabric cover which covers said body and which defines two fully open opposite ends, one of which is intended for suture to the valvular ring of an animal valve and the other end of which is intended for suture to the remaining portions of the resected sinuses of Valsalva including the commissural areas of the aortic wall of the animal valve, and a suture ring which surrounds the body and is fabricated from a medical fabric which may be sutured to the valvular annulus of a human heart, the improvement comprising:

  • said frame having a proximal and a distal end, both of which have a wavy configuration, said proximal end having a plurality of cusps corresponding to the number of commissures of the valve to be supported thereby, said cusps having a height equal to about one sixth of the maximum distance between said ends of said frame, said frame also including a plurality of short supporting arms joined to said distal end which are equidistantly spaced-apart by valleys, and which are alternately disposed relative to said cusps of said proximal end, said arms each having a total height which is about three times greater than the height of said cusps of said proximal end, and wherein said suture ring has a wavy configuration substantially conforming to the contour of said supporting arms and the valleys of said distal end and wherein said suture ring has alternately crests and valleys, on a distal edge thereof which crests, relative to the depths of said valleys thereof, have a height which is approximately no greater than half the total height of said frame.

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