Heart valve leaflet with reinforced free margin
First Claim
1. A heart valve comprising:
- a molded body including a plurality of leaflets, each leaflet including a scalloped free margin having opposite ends, the opposite ends being attached to a peripheral portion of the valve;
each free margin being adjacent each other free margin to form a gap therebetween; and
each leaflet being a first thickness, and at least a portion of each free margin being of a second thickness, greater than the first thickness.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A flexible leaflet heart valve includes a base, a peripheral portion and a plurality of leaflets. Each leaflet includes a scalloped free margin having opposite ends and a mid-portion between the opposite ends. The opposite ends are attached to the peripheral portion of the valve at a first height above the base. The mid-portion of each free margin is positioned at a second height above the base, less than the first height. Each free margin is adjacent each other free margin to form a gap therebetween. Each leaflet is of a first thickness and at least a portion of each free margin is of a second thickness, greater than the first thickness. This may include extending the second thickness along the entire free margin between the opposite ends or extending the second thickness only along the mid-portion of the free margin.
148 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A heart valve comprising:
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a molded body including a plurality of leaflets, each leaflet including a scalloped free margin having opposite ends, the opposite ends being attached to a peripheral portion of the valve;
each free margin being adjacent each other free margin to form a gap therebetween; and
each leaflet being a first thickness, and at least a portion of each free margin being of a second thickness, greater than the first thickness. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A flexible leaflet heart valve comprising:
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a molded body including a base, a peripheral portion and a plurality of leaflets, each leaflet including a free margin having opposite ends and a mid-portion therebetween, the opposite ends being attached to the peripheral portion of the valve at a first height above the base, the mid-portion of each free margin being at a second height above the base, less than the first height;
each free margin being adjacent each other free margin to form a gap therebetween; and
each leaflet being of a first thickness, and at least a portion of each free margin being of a second thickness, greater than the first thickness. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of forming a flexible heart valve comprising the steps of:
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molding a one-piece body including a base and a plurality of flexible relatively movable leaflets having a first thickness;
forming each leaflet to include a scalloped free margin having opposite ends and a mid-portion between the opposite ends;
shaping at least part of each free margin to include a second thickness greater than the first thickness;
extending the opposite ends to integrally connect to a peripheral portion of the valve; and
shaping each free margin to terminate adjacent each other free margin to define a continuous natural-state non-uniform gap therebetween which is maximized adjacent the mid-portion of each leaflet. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A heart valve comprising:
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a molded body including a plurality of leaflets, each leaflet having a scalloped free margin; and
each leaflet being a first thickness, and only a portion of each free margin being of a second thickness greater than the first thickness. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A heart valve comprising:
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a molded body including a plurality of leaflets, each leaflet including, a free margin having opposite ends, the opposite ends being attached to a peripheral portion of the valve;
each leaflet being of a first thickness;
each free margin including a second thickness greater than the first thickness; and
only a portion of each free margin being of a third thickness, greater than the second thickness.
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Specification