Patent classifications
A61F2/2445
MITRAL VALVE SPACER DEVICE
An implantable device includes an adjustable spacer and at least one anchor. The adjustable spacer is configured to be positioned between native heart valve leaflets to reduce regurgitation therebetween. The adjustable spacer can comprise a first side and a second side opposite the first side. Each side can be adjustable between a first width and a second width. Each side can be independently moved between the first width and the second width. The adjustable spacer can be made from a sponge material.
PROSTHETIC HEART VALVE DEVICES, PROSTHETIC MITRAL VALVES AND ASSOCIATED SYSTEMS AND METHODS
Prosthetic heart valve devices for percutaneous replacement of native heart valves and associated systems and method are disclosed herein. A prosthetic heart valve device configured in accordance with a particular embodiment of the present technology can include an anchoring member having an upstream portion configured to engage with tissue on or near the annulus of the native heart valve and to deform in a non-circular shape to conform to the tissue. The device can also include a mechanically isolated valve support coupled to the anchoring member and configured to support a prosthetic valve. The device can further include an atrial extension member extending radially outward from the upstream portion of the anchoring member and which is deformable without substantially deforming the anchoring member. In some embodiments, the upstream portion of the anchoring member and the extension member may be deformed while the valve support remains sufficiently stable.
Sensors for prosthetic heart devices
Prosthetic heart devices may be implanted into the heart with a sensor coupled to the device, the sensor being configured to measure physiological data, such as blood pressure, in the heart. Devices that may employ such sensors include prosthetic heart valves and occlusion devices, although sensor systems may be deployed in the heart separate from other implantable devices. The sensors may include a body with different configurations for attaching to the implantable device, such as apertures for sutures or fingers for connecting to structures of the implantable device. The sensors may provide data that allow a determination of aortic regurgitation or other information indicative of function of the implantable device and patient health during and after implantation of the device.
Annulus rings with suture clips
Disclosed herein are annular prosthetic devices, such as annuloplasty rings, that include suture clips integrated into or mounted within an annular frame. The clips can quickly secure to sutures to obviate the need to tied knots in the sutures during implantation. Embodiments comprise an annular frame having an open central region and a plurality of suture clips spaced angularly apart around the frame. Each of the suture clips can comprise two opposing tabs that extend toward each other such that the suture clip forms a gripping region between ends of the tabs and the gripping region is configured to grip a suture inserted through the suture clip between the two tabs. The annular frame and the plurality of suture clips can be formed from a single piece of flat material with the suture clip tabs being formed by laser cutting the piece of flat material, or the suture clips can be movable along a track formed in the annular frame.
Percutaneous Valve Implants
An apparatus for implantation at an annulus (75) of an intracardiac valve includes an annuloplasty ring (110) comprising a plurality of rotatably adjoining segments (112). The ring is configured to pass over multiple threads (58), respective distal ends of which are distributed over the annulus, and, while passing over the threads, expand from a collapsed state to an expanded state by virtue of the segments rotating with respect to each other. The apparatus further comprises a lock (114), configured to lock the ring in the expanded state at the valve by inhibiting rotation of the segments with respect to each another. Other embodiments are also described.
REPLACEMENT HEART VALVE WITH IMPROVED STITCHING
A replacement heart valve implant may include an expandable anchor member, a plurality of valve leaflets disposed within the anchor member, a seal member disposed about a distal portion of the anchor member, one or more whip sutures attaching a distal end of the seal member to a distal end of the plurality of valve leaflets at a joint, one or more distal lashing sutures attaching a distal portion of the seal member to a distal end of the anchor member, and a plurality of proximal lashing sutures attaching a proximal portion of the seal member to the distal portion of the anchor member, wherein the one or more distal lashing sutures does not extend through the seal member.
Reconfiguring tissue features of a heart annulus
Among other things, a tool to attach a support to a heart valve annulus includes a stabilizing body that includes features to stabilize an axial position of the tool relative to the annulus, and an attachment device connected to the stabilizing body, the stabilizing body and the attachment device being movable relative to one another under control from a location remote from the tool. The support may have an expandable tubular body having a plurality of struts, a plurality of tissue anchors extending from distally facing apexes in a distal direction post-deployment, wherein axial distal advance of the implantable annulus support causes the plurality of tissue anchors to axially engage tissue, and the implantable annulus support is self-contractible from a radially enlarged engagement configuration for engaging tissue of the mitral valve annulus, to a reduced, deployed configuration for modifying mitral valve annulus geometry.
CLOSURE ELEMENT FOR USE WITH ANNULOPLASTY STURUCTURE
During a percutaneous procedure, a flexible sleeve of an annuloplasty structure is introduced into an atrium and arranged completely around an annulus as a closed loop, such that none of one or more longitudinal contracting members thereof is positioned along an anterior portion of the annulus between fibrous trigones of the valve. The annuloplasty structure is fastened to the annulus. At least a portion of a posterior portion of the annulus is tightened, while preserving a length of an anterior portion of the annulus between fibrous trigones of the valve, by contracting, using the one or more longitudinal contracting members, a longitudinal portion of the sleeve not positioned along the anterior portion of the annulus between the fibrous trigones of the valve. Thereafter, the one or more longitudinal contracting members are locked.
Apparatus and methods for anterior valve leaflet management
In some embodiments, a method includes delivering to a native valve annulus (e.g., a native mitral valve annulus) of a heart a prosthetic heart valve having a body expandable from a collapsed, delivery configuration to an expanded, deployed configuration. The method can further include, after the delivering, causing the prosthetic heart valve to move from the delivery configuration to the deployed configuration. With the prosthetic heart valve in its deployed configuration, an anchor can be delivered and secured to at least one of a fibrous trigone of the heart or an anterior native leaflet of the native valve. With the prosthetic heart valve disposed in the native valve annulus and in its deployed configuration, an anchoring tether can extending from the anchor can be secured to a wall of the heart to urge the anterior native leaflet towards the body of the prosthetic heart valve.
Multi-level cardiac implant
A heart valve prosthesis including a frame, the frame including a plurality of struts designed to extend from an upstream side of a natural heart valve to a downstream side of the natural heart valve, and a plurality of connectors attached to the plurality of struts, wherein the plurality of connectors are arranged as arcs connecting the struts, the arcs having two ends, each end attached to one of the struts, and a peak pointing from a center of the frame circumferentially outward and toward the upstream side of the frame, and the plurality of connectors are arranged as at least two rows, each row circumnavigating the center lumen of the frame. Related apparatus and methods are also described.