Disclosed herein is a storage container for an expandable prosthetic heart valve that crimps the valve upon opening the container and removal of the valve from the container. The container includes a housing sized to receive the heart valve in its expanded configuration and a crimping mechanism. The crimping mechanism is incorporated into the container and engages the heart valve so as to operably convert the heart valve from its expanded configuration to its smaller crimped configuration upon opening the container and removing the valve.

Described here are delivery devices for delivering one or more implants to the body, and methods of using. The delivery devices may deliver implants to a variety of locations within the body, for a number of different uses. In some variations, the delivery devices have a cannula with one or more curved sections. In some variations, a pusher may be used to release one or more implants from the cannula. In some variations, one or more of the released implants may be a self-expanding device. Methods of delivering implants to one or more sinus cavities are also described here.

An assembly includes a holder device and a non-self-expandable prosthetic heart valve. The prosthetic heart valve can be radially compressed from an expanded configuration to a compressed configuration. The holder device is configured to hold the prosthetic heart valve in the expanded configuration and to allow the prosthetic heart valve to be inserted in a crimping device so that the prosthetic heart valve can be crimped onto a valve mounting portion of a delivery apparatus.

A crimping device includes a housing defining a bore and at least three extendable mechanisms angularly equispaced about the axis of the bore. Each of the extendable mechanisms include: (i) a first elongate arm hingedly connected at or near a first axial end of the first arm to the housing; (ii) a second elongate arm hingedly connected at or near a first axial end of the second arm to the housing, wherein: the first axial ends of the first and second arms are displaceable relative to each other; and the first and second arms are hingedly connected at or near their second axial ends to each other. The crimping device further includes means for equi-displacing the first axial ends of coupled first and second arms relative to each other, thereby to configure the crimping device between: (i) a dilated condition in which the second axial ends of the first and second arms are maximally spaced from the bore axis; and (ii) a contracted condition in which the second axial ends of the first and second arms are minimally spaced from the bore axis.

A radial compression mechanism utilizes a string wrapped around a plurality of compression dies to move the dies inward and close a central cylindrical cavity defined by the working surfaces of the dies. The string may be coupled to a string tension mechanism that enables a user to applied a desired tension to the string and thereby compress an article within the central cylindrical cavity. The compression dies may be coupled to a base and move along die-guiding slots from an open position to a closed position. A spring may be configured to force the compression dies open and provide some back-tension to the string. The string may extend around a pully on an opposing side of the compression mechanism and both ends of the string may be coupled to the string tension mechanism.

An assembly (10) for crimping a frame (56) of an implant (58) comprises a crimping device (20) with a base (22) and a crimping mechanism (24) that defines a crimping aperture (26). A bath (28) having a floor (30), and one or more side-walls (32) extending upward from the floor to a side-wall height defines a receptacle (18) that is shaped to receive a portion of the crimping device. The apparatus has an assembled state in which the portion of the crimping device has been received by the receptacle, the crimping device is held securely by the bath, and the aperture is below the side-wall height. Other embodiments are also described.

Disclosed herein is a method of crimping a prosthetic heart valve using a compact crimping mechanism. The crimping mechanism includes a plurality of jaws configured for coordinated inward movement toward a crimping axis to reduce the size of a crimping iris around a stented valve. A rotating cam wheel acts on the jaws and displaces them inward. A number of Cartesian guide elements cooperate with the jaws to distribute forces within the crimping mechanism. The guide elements are located between the crimping jaws and an outer housing and are constrained by the outer housing for movement along lines that are tangential to a circle centered on the crimping axis. The guide elements engage at least some of the crimping jaws while the rest are in meshing engagement so as to move in synch. An actuation mechanism includes a lead screw, carriage assembly and a linkage to rotate the cam wheel with significant torque.

Systems and devices for crimping a medical device and associated methods are disclosed herein. A crimping device configured in accordance with embodiments of the present technology can include, for example, a frame including a stationary plate, a movable member, and a plurality of blades arranged to form a channel and each including a pin that projects through a slot on the movable member and a corresponding slot on the stationary plate. The crimping device can be actuated to move the movable member relative to the stationary plate to drive the pins along paths defined by the slots to thereby drive the blades radially inward to crimp a medical device positioned within the channel.

Crimping device (1) for reducing the diameter of collapsible valves, said device (1) including at least two independent cylindrical crimping units (2, 3, 4) that are each adapted to crimp a different specific part of a valve, independently from the other crimping unit(s), each of said unit (2, 3, 4) comprising a diaphragm rotation crimping mechanism that includes crimping jaws, and wherein each unit (2, 3, 4) comprises an actuator for activating said mechanism, characterized by the fact that said actuator is a handling screw (51, 61, 71) that is tangentially fixed to the external surface of the cylindrical crimping unit (2, 3, 4).

A stent delivery system is adapted to deliver and release a self-expanding stent with improved force transmission efficiency and reduced energy loss. The stent delivery system includes an inner member including a stent receiving region, a proximal member that includes a buckle-reducing member that is adapted to reduce collapsibility within the proximal member, and a deployment sheath that extends coaxially about the inner member and the proximal member and is movable between a position in which the deployment sheath constrains the self-expanding stent and a position in which the deployment sheath does not constrain self-expanding stent, the deployment sheath including a stretch-reducing member that is adapted to reduce stretchability within the deployment sheath, wherein a reduced collapsibility of the proximal member and a reduced stretchability of the deployment sheath together reduce energy loss within the stent delivery system.