Heart valve prosthesis having a pivot design for improving flow characteristics
First Claim
1. A heart valve prosthesis, comprising:
- a valve body having an interior surface that defines a central passage for blood flow therethrough; and
a pair of leaflet occluders proportioned to be pivotably mounted within the central passage, each leaflet occluder including a pair of mounting ears;
wherein the valve body includes a plurality of recesses for receiving the pairs of mounting ears, each recess being bounded by a base surface and a sidewall, the sidewall defining a narrowed throat region, an upstream expanded region on one side of the throat region and a downstream expanded region on a generally opposite side of the throat region, the sidewall sloping outwardly from the base surface to form an oblique angle with a central axis along the entire length of the sidewall.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A heart valve prosthesis having improved flow characteristics. A heart valve prosthesis includes a valve body and a pair of leaflet occluders. The valve body includes an interior surface that defines a central passage for blood flow. The pair of leaflet occluders are pivotably mounted in the passage via ears or tabs that are received in recesses formed in the interior surface that defines the central passage. The recesses are formed with sloped sidewalls to improve the blood flow therethrough. The recesses are also formed such that the leaflet occluder ears act against at least two surfaces that limit the motion of the leaflet occluder to provide a more stable movement that is less damaging to blood cells.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A heart valve prosthesis, comprising:
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a valve body having an interior surface that defines a central passage for blood flow therethrough; and
a pair of leaflet occluders proportioned to be pivotably mounted within the central passage, each leaflet occluder including a pair of mounting ears;
wherein the valve body includes a plurality of recesses for receiving the pairs of mounting ears, each recess being bounded by a base surface and a sidewall, the sidewall defining a narrowed throat region, an upstream expanded region on one side of the throat region and a downstream expanded region on a generally opposite side of the throat region, the sidewall sloping outwardly from the base surface to form an oblique angle with a central axis along the entire length of the sidewall. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A heart valve prosthesis, comprising:
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a valve body having an interior surface that defines a central passage for conducting blood flow; and
at least one leaflet occluder pivotably mounted to the valve body by a pair of pivots, the interior surface including at least one pair of recesses to receive the pair of pivots, each recess being bounded by a continuously obliquely sloped sidewall extending between the interior surface and a recess base, each recess further including a narrowed throat region disposed such that the continuously obliquely sloped sidewall forms at least one pivot stop on each opposing side of the narrowed throat region to facilitate limiting the pivotal motion of the at least one leaflet occluder. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for facilitating blood flow through a prosthetic heart valve that includes a valve body having an interior surface defining a central passage through which blood flows and a leaflet occluder pivotably mounted in the central passage by a pair of pivot ears, comprising:
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creating a first recess and a second recess in the interior surface on generally opposite sides of the central passage to receive a pair of pivot ears of an individual leaflet occluder;
forming each of the first recess and the second recess with a pair of expanded regions separated by a narrower throat region;
defining the first recess by a first sidewall and the second recess by a second sidewall; and
orienting the first and the second sidewalls continously at an oblique angle selected to prevent formation of surfaces generally perpendicular to the interior surface. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification