A Prosthetic Heart Valve
First Claim
1. A prosthetic heart valve which includes a stent having three leaflets attached thereto, the stent being compressible to a compressed condition in which it is capable of being introduced into a patient'"'"'s body through a minimally invasive procedure and further being expandable from the compressed condition to an operative condition during deployment of the valve within the patient'"'"'s body, the stent having a ring-like body with an inlet and an outlet and defining in its height three arch-shaped elements each of which has an arc and a pair of haunches extending from opposite sides thereof, with three commissural posts formed by the haunches of adjacent elements, each leaflet having an attachment edge and a free edge with a belly extending between the free edge and the attachment edge, the leaflets being movable between an open condition, in which fluid flow through the valve is permitted in a direction from the inlet to the outlet, and a coapted condition, in which the free edges abut and prevent fluid flow through the valve in an opposite direction from the outlet to the inlet, wherein the leaflets are made from a polymeric material and are attached to the stent to encapsulate the arch-shaped elements so that the attachment edge of each leaflet is continuously attached along the length of an arch-shaped element.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A prosthetic heart valve (10) which includes a stent (14) having three leaflets (12) attached thereto is provided. The stent (14) is compressible so as to be capable of being introduced into a patient'"'"'s body through a minimally invasive procedure and has a ring-like body (16) defining in its height three arch-shaped elements (18). Each element (18) includes an arc (20) and a pair of haunches (22) extending from opposite sides thereof, with three commissural posts (26) formed by the haunches (22) of adjacent elements (18). The leaflets (12) each have an attachment edge (28) and a free edge (30) with a belly (32) extending therebetween. The leaflets (12) are movable between a coapted condition, in which the free edges (30) abut and prevent fluid flow through the valve (10), and an open condition, in which fluid flow through the valve (10) is permitted. The leaflets (12) are made from a polymeric material and are moulded directly onto the stent (14) so as to provide for continuous attachment thereof.
24 Citations
17 Claims
- 1. A prosthetic heart valve which includes a stent having three leaflets attached thereto, the stent being compressible to a compressed condition in which it is capable of being introduced into a patient'"'"'s body through a minimally invasive procedure and further being expandable from the compressed condition to an operative condition during deployment of the valve within the patient'"'"'s body, the stent having a ring-like body with an inlet and an outlet and defining in its height three arch-shaped elements each of which has an arc and a pair of haunches extending from opposite sides thereof, with three commissural posts formed by the haunches of adjacent elements, each leaflet having an attachment edge and a free edge with a belly extending between the free edge and the attachment edge, the leaflets being movable between an open condition, in which fluid flow through the valve is permitted in a direction from the inlet to the outlet, and a coapted condition, in which the free edges abut and prevent fluid flow through the valve in an opposite direction from the outlet to the inlet, wherein the leaflets are made from a polymeric material and are attached to the stent to encapsulate the arch-shaped elements so that the attachment edge of each leaflet is continuously attached along the length of an arch-shaped element.
- 7. A stent for a prosthetic heart valve, the stent configured to house three polymeric leaflets and being compressible to a compressed condition, in which it is capable of being introduced into a patient'"'"'s body through a minimally invasive procedure and further being expandable from the compressed condition to an operative condition during deployment of the valve within the patient'"'"'s body, the stent having a ring-like body defining in its height three arch-shaped elements each of which having an arc and a pair of haunches extending from opposite sides thereof, with three commissural posts formed by the haunches of adjacent elements, wherein each arch-shaped element provides an attachment zone along which an attachment edge of a leaflet can be continuously attached to the stent.
- 13. A leaflet for a prosthetic heart valve, the leaflet having an attachment edge and a free edge with a belly extending between the free edge and the attachment edge, wherein the leaflet is made from a polymeric material with the attachment edge being generally arch-shaped for continuous attachment to a complementary surface on a stent and the free edge having a length equal to or greater than an arc of radius R between two points on the attachment edge where the free edge intersects the attachment edge, and where R is the radius of the valve.
Specification