A method is provided for implanting a valve having at least one valve leaflet within the cardiovascular system of a subject. One step of the method includes preparing a substantially dehydrated bioprosthetic valve and then providing an expandable support member having oppositely disposed first and second ends and a main body portion extending between the ends. Next, the substantially dehydrated bioprosthetic valve is attached to the expandable support member so that the substantially dehydrated bioprosthetic valve is operably secured within the main body portion of the expandable support member. The expandable support member is then crimped into a compressed configuration and placed at a desired location within the cardiovascular system of the subject. Either before or after placement at the desired location, fluid or blood re-hydrates the substantially dehydrated bioprosthetic valve.

The present disclosure relates to tissue engineering, and more particularly to a method for treating or repairing rotator cuff or other tendon tears or damage using scaffold-free 3-dimensional engineered tendon constructs.

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.

A color-coded bioprosthetic valve system having a valve with an annular sewing ring, and a valve holder system with a holder sutured to the ring of the valve, a post operatively connected to the holder, and an adapter sutured to the post and having a color associated with the valve model and/or size. For example, the adapter may be blue to indicate that the valve of the system is a mitral valve of a particular type and/or size. The system may also include a flex handle that is configured to engage with the adapter. The handle has a color associated with the adapter such that a user is able to visually determine that the handle color matches the valve model. For example, the handle may have a grip that is colored blue to match the blue color of the adapter. Accordingly, the color-coded system enables users to confirm easily that the correct accessories such as the sizer or flex handle are being used with the correct valve.

A storage/delivery device includes a first wall defining a well configured to receive a corneal tissue. The storage/delivery device includes a second wall configured to be positioned over the first wall and to seal the well. The second wall includes a recess configured to extend into the well to define a chamber between the first wall and the second wall. The chamber is configured to hold the corneal tissue when the second wall seals the well. A system may include the storage/delivery device above and a measurement system configured to measure the corneal tissue disposed in the well. In one example embodiment, the measurement system is an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system. In another example embodiment, the measurement system is a second-harmonic generation (SHG) or third-harmonic generation (THG) microscopy system.

A vascular prosthesis (e.g., stent), and packaging and delivery system to selectively deliver a vascular prosthesis are described. In some embodiments, the vascular prosthesis utilizes a low porosity and high porosity section, and the packaging and delivery system allows the prosthesis to be delivered such that the position of the low porosity and high porosity sections of the prosthesis can vary.

The invention relates to an assembly formed by a medical device (1) adapted to be implanted in a human or animal body and by packaging, wherein: te medical device comprises a housing (11) that encloses a fluid reservoir (13) and a fluid outlet (12) forming a fluid connection between the reservoir and a volume outside the housing; the packaging includes a tank (2) comprising a bottom (20), a side wall (21), an upper face opposite the bottom in a vertical direction, and an opening configured to fill the tank with a biocompatible fluid, the bottom (20) of the tank extending in a horizontal plane perpendicularly to the vertical direction; at least one of the bottom, the side wall and the top face comprises a first holding element (201) adapted to hold the housing in the tank, the housing (11) being held in the tank (2) by said first holding element (201) such that the reservoir is located between the bottom of the tank and the fluid outlet, said fluid outlet being arranged below the opening such that the fluid outlet is immersed in the fluid when the tank is filled with the biocompatible fluid.

The invention relates to a method for draining a medical device (1) adapted to be implanted in a human or animal body, said medical device comprising a housing (11) that encloses a fluid reservoir (13), and a fluid outlet (12) that forms a fluid connection between the reservoir and a volume outside the housing, the method involving: —providing the device in packaging comprising a tank (2), the housing being held in the tank in a position in which the reservoir is located between the bottom of the tank and the fluid outlet; —filling the tank (2) with a biocompatible fluid such that a zone of the packaging which lies outside the medical device and is in fluid connection with the fluid outlet of the tank is immersed in the fluid; —draining the medical device and filling the reservoir (13) with the biocompatible fluid.

Devices, systems, and methods for delivering prosthesis implants into surgically-created implant pockets in a subject and for preventing capsular contracture resulting from surgical insertion of prosthesis implants. The device may include a delivery member operable to wrap around the implant thereby forming a conforming cavity around the implant that conforms to the shape of the implant. The delivery member is also operable to propel the implant from the conforming cavity into the implant pocket in the subject upon the application of mechanical force to the delivery member. The device also includes a shielding member coupled with the delivery member. The shielding member is operable to shield the implant from at least a portion of the dissection tunnel connecting the incision to the implant pocket during delivery of the implant to the implant pocket. The device is capable of shielding the implant from microbial contamination, including contamination by the endogenous flora of the subject, during delivery of the implant into the surgically-created implant pocket.

The invention relates to a package comprising a hollow body, a lid joined to the hollow body by a hinge, and a protective cover (that can be moved between a closed position in which it covers the lid and an open position in which it is separated from the hollow body and forms, with a coupling device, a lever arm coupled to the lid, with the coupling device being able to assume a retracted configuration when the cover is in the closed position, and a deployed configuration when the cover is in the open position. The invention also relates to a corresponding unpackaging process.