A radiopaque marker bead can be attached to an endoprosthesis by pressing an end of bead into a through hole formed into the endoprosthesis and allowing the opposite end of the bead to pass through the hole and protrude out of the other end of the hole. Both ends of the bead can then be pressed and flattened so as to frictionally engage both ends of the hole. A support tool having a curved outer surface can be inserted into the endoprosthesis to support the endoprosthesis luminal surface while the bead is being pushed into the hole. The support tool has a depression which allows the opposite end of the bead to protrude out of the hole.

An apparatus and method for supporting a tubular medical device, such as a stent or scaffold, includes a rod disposed between two collets. The rod can be shaped to form a range of different size or length helical supports to support a wide range of tubular medical devices. The rod is shaped into a full or partial helix by rotating one of the collets relative to the other.

A tapered implantable device includes an ePTFE tubular member having a tapered length portion. The tapered length portion provides rapid recovery properties. The tapered length portion can feature a microstructure that includes a multiplicity of bent fibrils.

Sensor-integrated prosthetic valves that can comprise a variety of features, including a plurality of valve leaflets, a frame assembly configured to support the plurality of valve leaflets and define a plurality of commissure supports terminating at an outflow end of the prosthetic valve, a sensor device associated with the frame assembly and configured to generate a sensor signal, for example, a sensor signal indicating deflection of one or more of the plurality of commissure supports, and a transmitter assembly configured to receive the sensor signal from the sensor device and wirelessly transmit a transmission signal that is based at least in part on the sensor signal.

An endoprosthesis may include an expandable framework including a body portion disposed between a first end and a second end, and a bowl portion disposed along the body portion; and a polymeric cover disposed on at least a portion of the expandable framework. The bowl portion may include an inner surface and an outer surface spaced apart radially outward from the inner surface. The bowl portion may extend radially outward from the body portion. The inner surface of the bowl portion may be devoid of the polymeric cover.

Systems and methods for the manufacture of an hourglass shaped stent-graft assembly comprising an hourglass shaped stent, graft layers, and an assembly mandrel having an hourglass shaped mandrel portion. Hourglass shaped stent may have superelastic and self-expanding properties. Hourglass shaped stent may be encapsulated using hourglass shaped mandrel assembly coupled to a dilatation mandrel used for depositing graft layers upon hourglass shaped mandrel assembly. Hourglass shaped mandrel assembly may have removably coupled conical portions. The stent-graft assembly may be compressed and heated to form a monolithic layer of biocompatible material. Encapsulated hourglass shaped stents may be used to treat subjects suffering from heart failure by implanting the encapsulated stent securely in the atrial septum to allow blood flow from the left atrium to the right atrium when blood pressure in the left atrium exceeds that on the right atrium. The encapsulated stents may also be used to treat pulmonary hypertension.

A loading tool for loading a collapsible prosthetic heart valve into a delivery device may include a body extending in a longitudinal direction between a proximal end and a distal end, an extension on the distal end of the body, and a slot extending through the extension from a free end of the extension toward the distal end of the body. The body may include a lumen extending between the proximal end and the distal end, the body lumen having a first diameter. The extension may have a lumen coaxial with the body lumen, the extension lumen having a second diameter less than the first diameter so as to define a shelf surface between the proximal end of the body and the free end of the extension.

The invention relates to an artificial eye lens comprising an optical part, which has a first optical side as viewed in a direction of an optical principal axis of the artificial eye lens and an opposite second optical side, wherein a structure with at least one depression is formed in a haptic arrangement of the artificial eye lens and/or in a surround that surrounds the optical part at least in certain areas and that differs from the haptic arrangement, wherein the structure is formed as a micro-perforation with a multiplicity of perforation zones and at least some perforation zones are filled at least in certain areas with at least one medicament for the purposes of producing a medicament repository. The invention also relates to a method for producing such an artificial eye lens.

A tapered implantable device includes an ePTFE tubular member having a tapered length portion. The tapered length portion provides rapid recovery properties. The tapered length portion can feature a microstructure that includes a multiplicity of bent fibrils.

The present invention relates to a synthetic prosthesis for tissue reinforcement comprising: a porous knit made from a monofilament of a synthetic biocompatible material, said knit defining two opposite faces, a first face and a second face, a synthetic non porous biodegradable film comprising at least a copolymer of at least ε-caprolactone, said film covering at least part of said first face, a synthetic biodegradable binder bonding said film to said first face, said binder comprising at least a polymer of ε-caprolactone, wherein said second face of said porous knit is left open to cell colonization. The invention also relates to a method for forming such a prosthesis.