Prosthetic heart valve
First Claim
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1. A prosthetic heart valve comprising:
- an outer peripheral, generally annular body having an inner wall surface;
a pair of occluder leaflets disposed in said body, each including opposed lateral edge surfaces and leading and trailing edge surfaces; and
leaflet-supporting means operative to support said leaflets for movement in response to reversals in the direction of fluid flow through said body between an open position in which said leaflets are substantially parallel to one another within said body and a closed position in which said leaflets extend angularly across said body with said leading edges abutting one another, said leaflet-supporting means having lateral projections on opposed lateral edge surfaces elongated in a direction parallel to said lateral edge surfaces and guide pocket means for each of said lateral projections, each said guide pocket means being in the form of a shallow, multi-sided guide channel having opposite side edges divergent in a downstream direction, said lateral projections insertable in an associated channel and slidable through said channel between said opposite side edges, each pair of said guide channels on opposite sides of said leaflets formed symmetrically about a plane passing through the longitudinal axis of said valve body and intermediately between each channel of a pair, each channel having a generally convex downstream edge and an oppositely disposed, relatively straight upstream edge, said guide pocket means operative to guide pivotal and limited translatory movement of each said leaflet between said open and said closed positions in response to reversals in the direction of fluid flow through said body.
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Abstract
A prosthetic heart valve of the bileaflet type is characterized in particular by having leaflets in confronting relation to one another which are guided along opposite sides of the leaflets for accurate controlled swinging movement between open and closed positions in such a way that the guiding portions do not interfere with or restrict in any way the opening size of the valve but permit effective washing action as the blood flows therethrough.
51 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A prosthetic heart valve comprising:
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an outer peripheral, generally annular body having an inner wall surface; a pair of occluder leaflets disposed in said body, each including opposed lateral edge surfaces and leading and trailing edge surfaces; and leaflet-supporting means operative to support said leaflets for movement in response to reversals in the direction of fluid flow through said body between an open position in which said leaflets are substantially parallel to one another within said body and a closed position in which said leaflets extend angularly across said body with said leading edges abutting one another, said leaflet-supporting means having lateral projections on opposed lateral edge surfaces elongated in a direction parallel to said lateral edge surfaces and guide pocket means for each of said lateral projections, each said guide pocket means being in the form of a shallow, multi-sided guide channel having opposite side edges divergent in a downstream direction, said lateral projections insertable in an associated channel and slidable through said channel between said opposite side edges, each pair of said guide channels on opposite sides of said leaflets formed symmetrically about a plane passing through the longitudinal axis of said valve body and intermediately between each channel of a pair, each channel having a generally convex downstream edge and an oppositely disposed, relatively straight upstream edge, said guide pocket means operative to guide pivotal and limited translatory movement of each said leaflet between said open and said closed positions in response to reversals in the direction of fluid flow through said body. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 7)
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6. A prosthetic heart valve comprising:
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an outer peripheral body member having a generally circular inner wall surface interrupted by diametrically opposed flat wall sections; a pair of occluder leaflets disposed in said body, each leaflet being of generally concavo-convex configuration to present a concave surface facing in a direction upstream of the flow of fluid therethrough and a convex surface facing in a direction downstream of the flow therethrough, lateral skirt portions on said leaflets extending substantially parallel to one another and to said flat wall sections from opposed lateral edge surfaces of each leaflet, a generally convex leading edge surface and a curved trailing edge surface wherein said leading edge surfaces are adapted to be movable into flush abutting relation to one another and said trailing edge surfaces are adapted to be movable into flush abutting relation to the inner wall surface of said body; and leaflet support means between said skirt portions and said flat wall sections of said body operative to control movement of said leaflets between an open position in which the trailing edge surfaces of said leaflets are disposed substantially parallel to said generally circular inner wall surface of said body and a closed position in which said leaflets have their leading edge surfaces in flush abutting relation to one another, said leaflet supporting means having guide members projecting laterally in opposite directions from opposed skirt portions of each leaflet and guide channels disposed in said flat wall sections of said body adapted to receive said guide members to guide pivotal movement of each said respective leaflet between an open and a closed position. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A prosthetic heart valve adapted for controlling the flow of blood in the heart of a mammal comprising:
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an outer peripheral, generally annular body; a pair of occluder leaflets disposed in said body, each including opposed lateral edge surfaces and leading and trailing edge surfaces, lateral skirt portions on said leaflets extending substantially parallel to one another and to said flat wall sections from opposed lateral edge surfaces of each leaflet, said lateral skirt portions movable into substantially sealed relation with respect to said flat wall sections of said body when said leaflets are advanced to the closed position; and leaflet-support means supporting said leaflets for movement between an open position in which said leaflets are substantially parallel to one another and a closed position in which said leaflets are oppositely inclined across said body with said leading edges abutting one another, said leaflet-supporting means having lateral generally oval-shaped projections on opposed lateral edge surfaces, each projection elongated in a direction parallel to said lateral edge surfaces and guide pocket means in said inner wall surface for each of said lateral projections, each said guide pocket means disposed in the inner wall surface of said body between said leading and trailing edge surface of a respective leaflet, each said guide pocket means aligned to receive a lateral projection whereby to guide each said leaflet to slide and pivot in moving between the closed and the open positions. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification