A capsule for a delivery apparatus and associated methods are disclosed. As one example, a capsule can include at least one end portion, arranged at a proximal end or distal end of the capsule, that narrows in diameter from a wider outer diameter of a middle portion of the capsule to a narrower outer diameter at an end of the at least one end portion, the end spaced away from the middle portion, where the at least one end portion is configured to expand to the wider outer diameter in response to a radially outward pressure from the prosthetic medical device during removal of the prosthetic medical device from inside of the capsule.

A percutaneous heart valve prosthesis including a collapsible valve body frame has a first end and a second end. The valve body frame is formed by a plurality of sub-frame members, each sub-frame member having a general form of a diamond with acute-angled vertices and oblique-angled vertices, wherein adjacent sub-frame members are joined at the oblique-angled vertices. A flexible skirt made from pericardial material extends around a periphery of the valve body frame. A one-way valve including a plurality of flexible valve leaflets is positioned within the valve body frame. The first end of the valve body frame is sized to pass through a valve orifice associated with a heart valve to be replaced and the second end of the valve body frame is sized so as not to pass through a valve orifice.

A prosthetic valve comprises a self-expanding frame which includes a self-expanding atrial skirt that forms a flanged region, a self-expanding ventricular skirt, and a first self-expanding tab coupled with the ventricular skirt. A receptacle for receiving a valve leaflet is formed by the area bounded by an outer surface of the atrial skirt, an outer surface of the ventricular skirt, and an inner surface of the first tab. The receptacle has a window for receiving the valve leaflet that is defined by a gap between an edge of the flange and a tip of the first tab. The gap is maximized when the tip of the first tab is unconstrained and a base of the first tab is at least partially constrained. The gap is minimized when the tip of the first tab and its base are unconstrained.

A blood conduit with stent has a flexible conduit body and an expandable stent structure. The conduit body has a first opening end through which only an inflow of a blood enters and a second opening end through which only an outflow of the blood leaves. The stent structure includes a plurality of threads adhered to the conduit body and expands in directions intersecting an axial direction of the conduit body. A boundary of one of the threads of the stent structure closest to the second opening end is away from the second opening end with a predetermined distance, thereby preventing blood back flow into the false lumen via a new tear.

The present invention provides apparatus for endovascularly replacing a patient's heart valve. The apparatus includes a replacement valve and an expandable anchor configured for endovascular delivery to a vicinity of the patient's heart valve. In some embodiments, the replacement valve is adapted to wrap about the anchor, for example, by everting during endovascular deployment. In some embodiments, the replacement valve is not connected to expandable portions of the anchor. In some embodiments, the anchor is configured for active foreshortening during endovascular deployment. In some embodiments, the anchor includes expandable lip and skirt regions for engaging the patient's heart valve during deployment. In some embodiments, the anchor comprises a braid fabricated from a single strand of wire. In some embodiments, the apparatus includes a lock configured to maintain anchor expansion.

A delivery system for delivering a heart valve prosthesis includes a heart valve prosthesis and a delivery catheter. The heart valve prosthesis includes an anchoring member and an inner valve support, and further includes a radially collapsed configuration and a radially expanded configuration. The delivery catheter includes a handle, an outer shaft, an intermediate shaft, an inner shaft, and a distal tip component. The delivery catheter further includes a delivery configuration. In the delivery configuration, the outer shaft of the delivery catheter is configured to retain a first portion of the anchoring member, the intermediate shaft is configured to retain a first portion of the inner valve support, and the distal tip component is configured to retain a second end of the anchoring member and a second end of the inner valve support each in a radially compressed state.

A radiocarpal wrist joint replacement includes a radial member configured to be affixed to a portion of an end of the radial bone proximal to the wrist including a fixture to be affixed over a longitudinal aspect of the radial bone and a radial resurfacing plate having a substantially concave surface configured to be located at the end of the radial bone. A carpal capitate bone insert configured to be inserted and affixed into the carpal capitate bone. A bulbous component includes a first convex head and a second convex head, substantially opposite each other and connected by a neck between the first and the second convex head. The radial resurfacing plate of the radial member with the concave surface is configured to be operably coupled to the second convex head of the bulbous component so as to allow radial freedom of motion in the joint replacement.

The invention relates to a medical device and a method of using it. The device is a stent which can be percutaneously deliverable with (or on) an endovascular catheter or via other surgical or other techniques and then expanded. The stent is configured to have a central portion defined by “open” cells and at least two end portions, defined by “closed” cells, spaced apart and directly connected to the distal and proximal ends of the central portion of the stent. The stent may also optionally have a covering or a lattice with openings.

An intraluminal prosthesis includes a stent architecture having a series of stent elements repeating along a circumferential axis. One series of stent elements includes v-shaped stent elements having at least four different orientations, and V-shaped stent elements connecting adjacent v-shaped stent elements. One series of stent elements includes R-shaped stent elements having at least four different orientations, and U-shaped stent elements having at least two different orientations, the U-shaped stent elements connecting adjacent R-shaped stent elements. Adjacent series of stent elements can be connected by connectors. Portions of the stent elements may narrow in width along a length thereof. The stent architecture may include radiopaque element receiving members. The stent architecture may be formed by machining a metal or polymer tube. The intraluminal prosthesis may include one or more graft layers.

The present invention is directed to a system for monitoring the functional status of an implantable heart valve. The system includes wireless pressure sensors that are embedded in the implantable heart valve. An external device receives signal transmitted from the wireless pressure sensors. The external device reads and analyzes these signals and then transmits the data to a healthcare provider.