A heart valve prosthesis that can be quickly and easily implanted during a surgical procedure is provided. The prosthetic valve has a base stent that is deployed at a treatment site, and a valve component configured to quickly connect to the base stent. The base stent may take the form of a self- or balloon-expandable stent that expands outward against the native valve with or without leaflet excision. The valve component has a non-expandable prosthetic valve and a self- or balloon-expandable coupling stent for attachment to the base stent, thereby fixing the position of the valve component relative to the base stent. The prosthetic valve may be a commercially available to valve with a sewing ring and the coupling stent attaches to the sewing ring. The system is particularly suited for rapid deployment of heart valves in a conventional open-heart surgical environment. A catheter-based system and method for deployment is provided.

The invention discloses an auxiliary balloon structure for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), which comprises a balloon head and a balloon body. When unexpanded, the balloon body has two conical ends and a cylindrical middle part. The conical ends are defined as a front and a rear conical part. The cylindrical middle part is provided with a mastoid structure. The front and rear conical parts are made of a semi-compliant material, while the cylindrical middle part is made of a non-compliant material.

Provided is a segmented covered stent (100), which includes a covering membrane (120) and a support frame (110) fixed to the covering membrane (120). The support frame (110) comprises an annular structure (1200) and a spiral structure (1300), wherein the annular structure (1200) is formed by a plurality of first wave-shaped units (1100) connected end to end; and the spiral structure (1300) is a tubular structure formed by a plurality of second wave-shaped units (1400) connected end to end and arranged in a continuous spiral manner, and the overall extension direction of the spiral structure (1300) is parallel to the support frame (110). A method for preparing the segmented covered stent (100) is further provided.

Devices, systems, and methods may be used for dilating implants utilizing dilation devices. An implant deployment system may include an inflatable body having a central body configured to press an inner surface of the implant to dilate the implant and having a profile that decreases in diameter along a length of the central body. An inflatable body may include a plurality of segments with varying expansion characteristics.

Packaging for a breast implant, the packaging comprising a lid and a cavity, wherein one of the lid or the cavity is configured to provide direct delivery of the breast implant from the packaging to a surgical pocket. A method for the direct delivery of a breast implant from breast implant packaging to a surgical pocket, the method comprising the steps of: a. ensuring that a delivery device present in a lid or a cavity of the packaging is in a delivery position; b. forming an aperture in the delivery device, thereby opening the packaging; c. transferring the breast implant to the delivery device; d. positioning the delivery device in contact with the surgical pocket; and e. delivering the breast implant to the surgical pocket.

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.

Vascular filters and deflectors and methods for filtering bodily fluids. A blood filtering assembly can capture embolic material dislodged or generated during an endovascular procedure to inhibit or prevent the material from entering the cerebral vasculature. A blood deflecting assembly can deflect embolic material dislodged or generated during an endovascular procedure to inhibit or prevent the material from entering the cerebral vasculature.

Devices and methods for inserting a pre-loaded intracanalicular plug for the treatment of dry eyes. In one embodiment, an intracanalicular plug inserter device includes: (a) an elongate body having a longitudinal axis, the body having: an inserter end, wherein the inserter end has an opening therein; and a distal end, wherein the distal end is longitudinally opposing the inserter end; and (b) a plug ejector, wherein the plug injector comprises: a slider; and a rod coupled to a first end of the slider, wherein the plug ejector is configured to be moveable between a first position adjacent an opening in the inserter end and a second position that is further from the opening. The plug is mounted within the body and abuts first end of the rod adjacent the opening in the inserter end.

A loading device for crimping a prosthetic heart valve without an internal support member includes a cone having a cone body with a tapering diameter and defining a lumen therethrough and a cone base extending radially from the cone body. The cone base may couple to a funnel also having a tapering diameter and defining a lumen therethrough. The cone may be coupled to the funnel such that the lumen of the cone is aligned with the lumen of the funnel along a longitudinal axis of the loading device. The cone body may define a plurality of slots configured to receive the tines extending from the prosthetic heart valve as the valve is pulled through the loading device and compressed from an expanded state to a collapsed state by the tapering diameter of the cone and the funnel to be disposed inside a delivery device.

A shunt for draining ocular fluid of one embodiment includes a tubular body formed of a mesh material including bioactive glass fiber and collagen, the tubular body including an implantation member and a conduit through the implantation member. The implantation member and the conduit are formed integrally. Other embodiments are also contemplated.