9058results about "Heart valves" patented technology

Set forth are vascular valves and servovalves and methods of using the same that may be positioned in the circulatory system without interrupting blood flow to facilitate solid organ transplantation so as to reduce graft organ anoxia and degradation before and after harvesting and storage, thereby minimizing late-term cardiac allograft vasculopathy as a major cause of graft failure. Along the urinary tract, bypassing bladder-generated urge sensation by diverting urine directly from the ureters to a neobladder or collection bag alleviates intractable incontinence, nocturia, urethral syndrome, overactive bladder, dysuria, or frequency. Where the lower tract is missing, a prosthesis can thwart disease and preclude the degenerative metaplastic transition to carcinoma risked when gut is used to construct a conduit for urine, a neobladder, and / or high-maintenance stoma. Druglines to valves and servovalves can directly pipeline-target medication to nidi, anastomoses, or any other trouble spots.

Interatrial shunts are described herein that are designed to benefit both the left side of the heart and the right side of the heart. The interatrial shunt is anchored in the atrial septum to permit blood to flow between atrial heart chambers across the atrial septum. In accordance with some aspects, the lumen of the shunt has an effective orifice area selected to permit blood flow across the atrial septum to unload the patient's left ventricle with beneficial effects on the patient's right ventricle. The shunts are structured to be suitably anchored at the atrial septum for long-term implantation. Further, the shunts preferably have insignificant late lumen loss. The interatrial shunts are expected to treat pathologies such as heart failure and pulmonary hypertension.

A bi-directional steerable catheter adapted for delivery into a patient's vasculature. The pull wires which are used to tension the deflectable segment of the steerable catheter are wound in parallel around the axis of the steerable catheter on opposite sides of the steerable catheter.

Described herein are shunt devices configured to achieve a targeted reduction in peak systolic pressure by percutaneous ly shunting from the superior vena cava to the right pulmonary artery. The shunt devices include a check valve with a cracking pressure to preserve a minimal transpulmonary pressure. Also described herein are flow diversion devices placed between pulmonary circulation vessels and venous vessels. The disclosed flow diversion devices are physiologically responsive through an adjustable orifice that can be adjusted after initial implantation through a non-invasive or minimally invasive procedure. Disclosed herein are flow control systems that are configured to reduce recruitment of blood from the splanchnic system. The flow control systems include a variable orifice constrictor (e.g., a covered stent) and a controller that delivers energy to the constrictor to reduce the cross-sectional area of the lumen through the variable orifice constrictor.

The invention discloses a test system and method for an artificial heart valve implant, and relates to the technical field of medical instrument detection. The system comprises a ventricle simulator, an atrium simulator, a circulation loop, a high-speed camera and a laser generator, wherein an artificial heart valve is arranged in the high-transparency compliance valve testing cavity, and the circulation loop is composed of a blood vessel compliance simulator and a blood vessel damping simulator. The circulation loop simulates a blood flowing environment for the artificial heart valve, and a flowing medium is added with tracer particle turbid liquid; the ventricle simulator, the atrium simulator, the vascular damper and the vascular compliance simulator respectively provide power, storage space, resistance and pulse pressure for the flowing medium; and the laser generator and the high-speed camera act together to obtain a particle image behind the artificial heart valve. The particle image is uploaded to a computer for heart valve pulsating flow field visualization analysis based on the digital particle image velocity measurement technology, and therefore quantitative analysis of the risk after the heart valve is implanted into the expected position is achieved.

The present invention provides a prosthetic heart valve device with improved fit and / or apposition between the device frame and left atrial tissue and / or the device base and the annular tissue of the left atrium to improve shifting of the implanted device and / or mitigate paravalvular leakage. The improved fit and / or apposition arises in various embodiments by providing or allowing an asymmetrical frame and / or frame base and / or providing a lower lip to aid in conforming to the asymmetrical shape of the atrium and / or ensure firm positioning therein. An additional benefit of these arrangement(s) is mitigation of paravalvular leakage as a result of improved fit and seal. In certain embodiments, the asymmetry of the frame assists with delivery of the device into the atrium.

Apparatus and methods for an implant are provided. The implant may have a constrained configuration and a relaxed configuration. The implant may include a strut having an end that may be captured by a hub and may define a reference angle in the relaxed configuration. The implant may include a swivel body that may engage a shaft of a delivery cable and may be rotated through the reference angle. The apparatus may include a pusher catheter to push the implant. The delivery cable may engage the implant. The apparatus may include gauge handle that may include a force gauge to indicate the presence of a force acting on the implant. The apparatus may include a bushing that may be fixed to an end of a pusher catheter. The bushing may move along a delivery catheter lumen and may guide the implant to a keyed position at the bushing.

Loading systems for prosthetic heart valve devices are disclosed. A loading funnel is provided within a watertight interior space that is at least partially filled or fillable with biocompatible fluid. Funnel may have a cylindrical end to which is connected a delivery catheter having a lumen that will receive the collapsed prosthetic heart valve device. An expanded prosthetic heart valve device may be placed within the funnel and pushed or pulled into the funnel which provides a predictable, reliable and repeatable surface for collapsing the prosthetic heart valve device. Ultimately the prosthetic heart valve device is collapsed and translated into the lumen of the delivery catheter for further translation therealong and release into the heart chamber of interest.

A prosthetic heart valve may include a balloon-expandable frame extending between an inflow end and an outflow end, a plurality of prosthetic leaflets mounted within the frame, and an inner skirt positioned between the plurality of prosthetic leaflets and the frame. The frame may include a first row of diamond-shaped cells at the inflow end of the frame, a second row of diamond-shaped cells, and a row of outflow cells positioned at the outflow end of the frame. Each cell in the row of outflow cells may not be diamond-shaped, and, in an expanded condition of the frame, each cell in the row of outflow cells may have a larger area than that of each cell in the first and second rows of diamond-shaped cells. Each outflow cell may be at least partially defined by a commissure attachment feature, and each outflow cell may lack symmetry.

Apparatus and methods for an implant are provided. The implant may have a constrained configuration and a relaxed configuration. The implant may include a strut having an end that may be captured by a hub and may define a reference angle in the relaxed configuration. The implant may include a swivel body that may engage a shaft of a delivery cable and may be rotated through the reference angle. The apparatus may include a pusher catheter to push the implant. The delivery cable may engage the implant. The apparatus may include gauge handle that may include a force gauge to indicate the presence of a force acting on the implant. The apparatus may include a bushing that may be fixed to an end of a pusher catheter. The bushing may move along a delivery catheter lumen and may guide the implant to a keyed position at the bushing.

A collapsible and expandable prosthetic mitral valve stent is provided with improved recapture into a distal lumen of a delivery sheath. Various embodiments comprise a valve support within the interior of a stent frame and defining a flow channel therethrough, wherein the top or upstream of the valve support comprises a row, or a plurality, of stent cells that are bent radially inward at least partially over the flow channel. Some embodiments may comprise a recapture assist mechanism, such as an open paddle, attached to one or more of the inwardly bent stent cells and adapted to receive and / or engage a wire to aid in positioning, expansion, recapture and / or implanting the device in a patient's heart chamber.

Apparatus and methods for an implant are provided. The implant may have a constrained configuration and a relaxed configuration. The implant may include a strut having an end that may be captured by a hub and may define a reference angle in the relaxed configuration. The implant may include a swivel body that may engage a shaft of a delivery cable and may be rotated through the reference angle. The apparatus may include a pusher catheter to push the implant. The delivery cable may engage the implant. The apparatus may include gauge handle that may include a force gauge to indicate the presence of a force acting on the implant. The apparatus may include a bushing that may be fixed to an end of a pusher catheter. The bushing may move along a delivery catheter lumen and may guide the implant to a keyed position at the bushing.

Prosthetic heart valves each includes a link extending along a link axis and an axial frame. The axial frame includes a plurality of struts comprising a plurality of inner struts pivotally attached to a plurality of outer struts at a plurality of pivot nodes. A first pivot node of the plurality of pivot can be attached to the link and a second pivot node of the plurality of pivot nodes can move relative to the link along the link axis. Methods of radially expanding a prosthetic heart valve can comprise radially expanding the radially expandable frame from a radially retracted orientation to a radially expanded orientation while the second pivot node axially translates relative to the link.

The present invention relates to a stent (10) for the positioning and anchoring of a valvular prosthesis (100) in an implantation site in the heart of a patient. Specifically, the present invention relates to an expandable stent for an endoprosthesis used in the treatment of a narrowing of a cardiac valve and / or a cardiac valve insufficiency. So as to ensure that no longitudinal displacement of a valvular prosthesis (100) fastened to a stent (10) will occur relative the stent (10) in the implanted state of the stent (10), even given the peristaltic motion of the heart, the stent (10) according to the invention comprises at least one fastening portion (11) via which the valvular prosthesis (100) is connectable to the stent (10). The stent (10) further comprises positioning arches (15) and retaining arches (16), whereby at least one positioning arch (15) is connected to at least one retaining arch (16) via a first connecting land (17). The stent (10) moreover comprises at least one auxiliary retaining arch (18) which connects the respective arms (16′, 16″) of the at least one retaining arch (16) connected to the at least one positioning arch (15).

Delivery systems for implanting cardiac valve repair devices are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a delivery system for implanting a valve repair device includes a delivery catheter, an implant shaft, a drive shaft, a clip cable, and a cinching line. The delivery catheter can hold the device in a compressed configuration. The implant shaft can have a hub assembly releasably coupled to a portion of the device, and the drive shaft can be actuated to release the portion of the device from the hub assembly. The clip cable can be releasably coupled to a clip of the device for opening and closing the clip to capture and secure a portion of a native leaflet. The cinching line can extend around a portion of the device for cinching the device to a compressed position when deployed from within the delivery catheter.

Systems and methods for sequential deployment of a prosthetic valve using a delivery catheter are described. The delivery catheter may include a deployment assembly including an end cone, a distal sleeve, a prosthetic support, an anchor sleeve and an anchor support. The delivery catheter may further include a handle having a manipulator including a guide that is connect to the deployment assembly with a force transmission tube. The guide may have various channels for interfacing with a protrusion of the handle and may be guided by the protrusion to sequentially deploy the prosthetic valve from the deployment assembly. For example, the guide may cause the distal sleeve to release a distal end of the prosthetic valve and subsequently cause an anchor support to release a proximal end of the prosthetic valve.

The invention relates to a device for use in the transcatheter treatment of mitral valve regurgitation, specifically a coaptation assistance element for implantation across the valve; a system including the coaptation assistance element and anchors for implantation; a system including the coaptation assistance element and delivery catheter; and a method for transcatheter implantation of a coaptation element across a heart valve.

Implants, implant systems, and methods for treatment of mitral valve regurgitation and other valve diseases generally include a coaptation assist body which remains within the blood flow path as the leaflets of the valve move, the valve bodies often being relatively thin, elongate (along the blood flow path), and / or conformable structures which extend laterally from commissure to commissure, allowing the native leaflets to engage and seal against the large, opposed surfaces on either side of the valve body during the heart cycle phase when the ventricle contracts to empty that chamber of blood, and allows blood to pass around the valve body so that blood flows from the atrium to the ventricle during the filling phase of the heart cycle. Separate deployment of independent anchors near each of the commissures may facilitate positioning and support of an exemplary triangular valve body, with a third anchor being deployed in the ventricle. An outer surface of the valve body may accommodate tissue ingrowth or endothelialization, while a fluid-absorbing matrix can swell after introduction into the heart. The valve body shape may be selected after an anchor has been deployed, and catheter-based deployment systems may have a desirable low profile.

Devices are provided with an internal dimension that can be reduced and increased in vivo. In one example, an interatrial shunt for placement at an atrial septum of a patient's heart includes a body. The body includes first and second regions coupled in fluid communication by a neck region. The body includes a shape-memory material. The body defines a passageway through the neck region for blood to flow between a first atrium and a second atrium. The first and second regions are superelastic at body temperature, and the neck region is malleable at body temperature. A flow area of the passageway through the neck region may be adjusted in vivo.

Apparatus and methods for an implant are provided. The implant may have a constrained configuration and a relaxed configuration. The implant may include a strut having an end that may be captured by a hub and may define a reference angle in the relaxed configuration. The implant may include a swivel body that may engage a shaft of a delivery cable and may be rotated through the reference angle. The apparatus may include a pusher catheter to push the implant. The delivery cable may engage the implant. The apparatus may include gauge handle that may include a force gauge to indicate the presence of a force acting on the implant. The apparatus may include a bushing that may be fixed to an end of a pusher catheter. The bushing may move along a delivery catheter lumen and may guide the implant to a keyed position at the bushing.

The invention discloses an artificial biological heart valve device, and relates to the technical field of heart surgeries. Valve leaflets are fixedly mounted on a supporting assembly, so that the valve leaflets are supported and limited; the first edge (supporting wall 42) of the suture ring is used for suturing and fixing with the supporting assembly, and the second edge (suturing wall 41) is used for suturing with the tissue ring; the wall face of the suture ring has extension in the axial direction, so that an axial distance exists between the first edge (supporting wall 42) and the second edge (suture wall 41), the first edge (supporting wall 42) is located outside the ventricle, the wall face of the suture ring supports the supporting assembly in the axial direction, and the supporting assembly is made to be away from the ventricle by means of the extension size of the wall face of the suture ring in the axial direction. By the adoption of the structure, the thickness of the suture ring does not need to be additionally increased, and the axial position of the supporting assembly cannot be affected during suture and tensioning.

A radially expandable prosthetic valve can comprise an annular frame, at least one expansion mechanism and a cord. The annular frame can be radially collapsible and expandable between a radially collapsed configuration and a radially expanded configuration. The expansion mechanism can comprise a first member attached to the frame at a first location and a second member attached to the frame at a second location axially spaced from the first location. The cord can extend at least partially along the expansion mechanism in a first direction, be reeved around a portion of the second member, and extend at least partially along the expansion mechanism in a second direction opposite the first direction. Applying a proximally directed force to a first portion of the cord can cause the second member to move relative to the first member, which can cause the frame to foreshorten axially and expand radially.

An embodiment of a radially contractible and expandable artificial heart valve is disclosed. When mounted on a delivery shaft, the valve frame may have a tapered profile, with the inflow end portion having a smaller diameter than the outflow end portion. The valve may include a generally V-shaped leaflet, reducing material in the inflow end of the frame. An outer skirt may be fixed to the outside of the inflow end portion of the frame, the outer skirt having a longitudinal slack when the valve is expanded and lying flat against the frame when the valve is contracted. The diagonally braided inner skirt may be axially elongated with the frame. Side protrusions adjacent to the leaflets may extend through and be fixed to the window frame portion of the frame to form a commissure. When the valve is creased on the delivery shaft, the window frame portion may be radially recessed inward relative to the surrounding frame portion.

The disclosure relates to a device that is configured to be implanted on the native leaflet of a heart valve to increase its length and / or thickness and thereby to improve the valve function and reduce regurgitation. The device may include a leaflet section. The leaflet section may include a central member. The central member may include a first portion, a second portion that opposes the first portion, and a base portion disposed between the first portion and the second portion. The first section may extend from the first portion and the second section may extend from the second portion. The device may include one or more engaging members extending from the central member at an angle with respect to the first section and the second section. The second section may be larger than the first section. The leaflet section may define a three-dimensional region or a bulge.

The present invention relates to a radially collapsible frame (1) for a prosthetic valve, the frame (1) comprising an outflow end region (3) at a proximal end of the frame (1) and an inflow end region (2) at a distal end of the frame (1), opposite to the outflow end region (3). The frame (1) further includes at least two radially spaced commissure attachment regions 910, 10′, 10″) and a cell structure (30), composed of a plurality of lattice cells being arranged radially around a flow axis of the frame (1) and connecting the at least two commissure attachment regions (10, 10′, 10″). Finally, at least one anchoring / positioning arch (20, 20′, 20″) is provided, wherein said at least one anchoring / positioning arch (20, 20′, 20″) radially overlaps the cell structure (30) at least partially. In order to form the inventive frame from as a single piece, the invention further relates to a method comprising bending the at least one anchoring / positioning arch (20, 20′, 20″) towards the cell structure (30) of the frame (1).

Apparatus and methods for an implant are provided. The implant may have a constrained configuration and a relaxed configuration. The implant may include an outer stent and an inner valve support. The inner valve support may be positioned within the outer stent. The implant may include a transition section spanning between the outer stent and the inner valve support.

The invention relates to a device for use in the transcatheter treatment of mitral valve regurgitation, specifically a coaptation enhancement element for implantation across the valve; a system including the coaptation enhancement element and anchors for implantation; a system including the coaptation enhancement element, catheter and driver; and a method for transcatheter implantation of a coaptation element across a heart valve.

An automated system that can be used for prosthetic heart valve manufacturing or suturing procedures. The system can include a first automated fixture that includes an articulating arm and a target device holder. The system can also include one or more additional automated fixtures, which can be configured as one or more suturing arms that include another articulating arm and a needle holder. The first automated fixture can be configured to rotate a target device held by the holder to allow the one or more additional automated fixtures to perform operations such as form sutures on the target device without intervention of a human operator. The system can include a display system configured to display status information of a suturing procedure.

Embodiments described herein relate to an implant delivery system for delivering an implant for reducing heart valve regurgitation. The implant delivery system may include an implant catheter disposed in an inner lumen of a guide catheter. The implant catheter may include one or more hypotubes disposed therein, each hypotube configured to receive an elongate member such as a braided tether. A distal end of the implant catheter may be coupled to an implant holder configured to receive the implant. The implant holder may define one or more channels, each channel configured to receive a portion of a respective elongate member. The elongate members configured to couple the implant to the implant holder and transition the implant between configurations. The implant configured to be disposed around a portion of a leaflet of a heart valve to improve coaptation of the heart valve.

A catheter implant system (61) and related devices, prosthetic heart valves (65, 7200) and methods included therein, relating to the technical field of medical instruments wherein an interventional delivery system (1, 51) included therein comprises a catheter assembly (30, 54, 64) and a control handle (9, 20, 53, 63, 63a, 63b) connected to the catheter assembly (30, 54, 64), the catheter assembly (30, 54 and 64) is provided with a far end and a near end which are opposite to each other and comprises an inner sheathing canal (320) and an outer sheathing canal (310, 544 and 644) which are sleeved with each other in a sliding mode, the outer sheathing canal (310, 544 and 644) sequentially comprises a loading section (3102) and a sheathing canal section (3103) from the far end to the near end, and the loading section (3102) is used for wrapping the interventional instrument and keeping the interventional instrument in a compressed state; the control handle (9, 20, 53, 63, 63a, 63b) comprises: a main handle (10) to which the proximal end of the inner sheath (320) is connected; the auxiliary handle (20) is arranged on the periphery of the inner sheath tube (320) in a sliding and sleeving mode, and the near ends of the outer sheath tubes (310, 544 and 644) are connected to the auxiliary handle (20).