Esophageal valve
First Claim
1. An esophageal valve comprising a polymeric valve body having an outer support region, at least three valve leaflets, and a main body region extending between the support region and the valve leaflets, the valve having:
- a normally closed configuration in which the valve is closed;
an antegrade open configuration in which the valve leaflets are opened in response to an antegrade force to allow flow through the valve;
a retrograde open configuration in response to a retrograde force which is substantially larger than the antegrade force;
wherein the valve leaflets have a region of co-aption,wherein;
(a) the valve body is reinforced at the region of co-aption;
or(b) wherein the valve body is thickened at the region of co-aption; and
wherein(c) the region of co-aption extends for an axial length of at least 1 mm.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An esophageal valve comprising a polymeric valve body having an outer support region, at least three valve leaflets, and a main body region extending between the support region and the valve leaflets. The valve has a normally closed configuration in which the valve is closed, an antegrade open configuration in which the valve leaflets are opened in response to an antegrade force to allow flow through the valve and a retrograde open configuration in response to a retrograde force which is substantially larger than the antegrade force.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. An esophageal valve comprising a polymeric valve body having an outer support region, at least three valve leaflets, and a main body region extending between the support region and the valve leaflets, the valve having:
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a normally closed configuration in which the valve is closed; an antegrade open configuration in which the valve leaflets are opened in response to an antegrade force to allow flow through the valve; a retrograde open configuration in response to a retrograde force which is substantially larger than the antegrade force; wherein the valve leaflets have a region of co-aption, wherein; (a) the valve body is reinforced at the region of co-aption;
or(b) wherein the valve body is thickened at the region of co-aption; and wherein (c) the region of co-aption extends for an axial length of at least 1 mm. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An esophageal valve comprising a polymeric valve body having an outer support region, at least three valve leaflets, and a main body region extending between the support region and the valve leaflets, the valve having:
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a normally closed configuration in which the valve is closed; an antegrade open configuration in which the valve leaflets are opened in response to an antegrade force to allow flow through the valve; a retrograde open configuration in response to a retrograde force which is substantially larger than the antegrade force; and wherein a pressure of 0.7 mm Hg in the antegrade direction is sufficient to allow a flowrate through the valve of 140 ml/min. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An esophageal valve comprising a polymeric valve body having an outer support region, at least three valve leaflets, and a main body region extending between the support region and the valve leaflets, the valve having:
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a normally closed configuration in which the valve is closed; an antegrade open configuration in which the valve leaflets are opened in response to an antegrade force to allow flow through the valve; a retrograde open configuration in response to a retrograde force which is substantially larger than the antegrade force; and wherein the retrograde force required to open the valve is a pressure of greater than 15 mm Hg and less than 40 mm Hg. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. An esophageal valve comprising a polymeric valve body having an outer support region, at least three valve leaflets, and a main body region extending between the support region and the valve leaflets, the valve having:
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a normally closed configuration in which the valve is closed; an antegrade open configuration in which the valve leaflets are opened in response to an antegrade force to allow flow through the valve; a retrograde open configuration in response to a retrograde force which is substantially larger than the antegrade force, wherein (a) the polymeric material is stable to gastric fluid for at least 3 months, for at least 4 months, for at least 5 months, for at least 6 months, for at least 7 months, for at least 8 months, for at least 9 months, for at least 10 months, for at least 11 months, or for at least one year, (b) the polymeric material takes up less than about 5%, less than about 10%, less than about 15%, less than about 20%, less than about 25%, or less than about 30% by weight of water at equilibrium, (c) the polymeric material of the valve body has a % elongation of from about 50% to about 3000%, or about 200 to about 1200%, (d) the polymeric material of the valve body has a tensile strength of from about 0.01 to about 5 MPa, or about 0.1 to about 1.0 MPa, or about 0.25 to about 0.5 MPa (e) the polymeric material has a Young'"'"'s Modulus of about 0.01 to about 0.6 MPa or about 0.1 to about 0.5 MPa (f) the polymeric material of the valve body has a density of from about 0.1 g/cm3 to about 1.5 g/cm3, or from about 0.3 to about 1.2 g/cm3, or from about 0.8 to about 0.9 g/cm3, or from about 0.5 to about 0.6 g/cm3, or (g) the distance between the proximal end of the support region of the valve body and the distal end of the valve leaflets is less than about 50 mm, or less than about 40 mm, or less than about 30 mm, or less than about 25 mm, or less than about 20 mm, or less than about 15 mm.
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36. An esophageal valve comprising a polymeric valve body having an outer support region, at least three valve leaflets, and a main body region extending between the support region and the valve leaflets, the valve having:
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a normally closed configuration in which the valve is closed; an antegrade open configuration in which the valve leaflets are opened in response to an antegrade force to allow flow through the valve; a retrograde open configuration in response to a retrograde force which is substantially larger than the antegrade force; wherein the valve further comprises a support structure, wherein (a) the support structure tapers outwardly or inwardly, (b) the support structure is of generally uniform diameter along the length thereof, (c) the support structure comprises a scaffold, (d) the support structure comprises a stent-like structure, or (e) a mounting means is provided by the support structure; and wherein the mounting means comprises protrusions extending from the support structure;
wherein(f) the protrusions are adapted to engage with a pre-deployed host esophageal luminal prosthesis, (g) the protrusion comprises a loop, (h) the apical tip of the protrusion is rounded, or (i) the protrusions are releasably engagable with a pre-deployed host esophageal luminal prosthesis.
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37. An esophageal valve comprising a polymeric valve body having an outer support region, at least three valve leaflets, and a main body region extending between the support region and the valve leaflets, the valve having:
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a normally closed configuration in which the valve is closed; an antegrade open configuration in which the valve leaflets are opened in response to an antegrade force to allow flow through the valve; a retrograde open configuration in response to a retrograde force which is substantially larger than the antegrade force; wherein the valve further comprises a support structure, wherein (a) the support structure tapers outwardly or inwardly, (b) the support structure is of generally uniform diameter along the length thereof, (c) the support structure comprises a scaffold, (d) the support structure comprises a stent-like structure, or (e) a mounting means is provided by the support structure; and wherein the valve further comprises a release means for releasing the valve from engagement with a pre-deployed host esophageal luminal prosthesis wherein (f) the release means comprises means for reducing the diameter of at least portion of the valve support structure, (g) the release means comprises a drawstring extending around the valve support structure, (h) the release means comprises a drawstring extending around a proximal end of the support structure, or (i) the release means comprises a first drawstring extending around the valve support structure and a second drawstring extends around a distal end of the support structure.
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Specification