Flow Control in Prosthetic Heart Valves

An artificial heart valve that reduces paravalvular leakage, the gap between the valve and native tissue, after implantation. The valve has a stent, leaflet assembly, inner skirt, and sealing area. The sealing area adapts to the shape and size of the gap and seals it using pockets that can accommodate refluxed blood. This prevents leakage by sealing around the stent instead of compressing tissue. The skirt seals the leaflets to the stent, and the sealing area expands and deforms to adaptively seal the gap.

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Artificial heart valve design with features to prevent leaflet deformation under backpressure and improve durability. The valve has leaflets attached to a frame that can move between open and closed configurations. Support members are attached to the leaflets and move with them. When the valve is closed under backpressure, the support members prevent leaflet deformation by transferring force to the frame instead. This prevents buckling and displacement. The leaflets can be formed separately as flat sheets then attached to the frame.

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Compressible prosthetic heart valve with improved function and reduced risk of thrombus formation. The valve has a sealing feature that partially extends between the inner and outer frames, allowing backpressure to act on it during ventricular systole instead of the valve leaflets. This reduces forces on the inner frame and coupling arms. The sealing feature also prevents blood stagnation and clot formation in partially confined pockets between the frames. An embolism retention member with lower permeability than the sealing feature can be added to fully confine clots.

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A prosthetic valve for replacing a tricuspid valve that reduces regurgitation by using a diaphragm that collapses during forward flow and expands to seal the valve during reverse flow. The diaphragm is supported by a flexible frame that conforms to the annulus shape. The diaphragm divides the flow channel into disconnected chambers. The frame flexes during the cardiac cycle. The diaphragm fills with blood when flow is blocked, preventing regurgitation, and returns during diastole. The flexible frame shape matches the annulus. The delivery system has a guide wire with a knurl and threaded tube to prevent disconnection.

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Heart valve prosthesis that reduces paravalvular leakage after implantation compared to conventional valves. The prosthesis has an inflatable bag on the atrial side that expands when the heart contracts. Blood rushes into the bag through an opening in the coating, filling gaps between the valve and annular tissue. This adaptively fills the gaps and reduces leakage. The bag is formed by redundant covering on the atrial segment of the valve frame. The bag expands when the heart contracts, utilizing blood flow characteristics to fill gaps and reduce leakage.

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Prosthetic heart valve with non-uniform leaflets that have movable sections and stiffer sections. The valve has a frame that expands and contracts. The leaflets are attached to the frame and have sections that move during valve opening/closing, and stiffer sections. The movable sections allow flexible leaflet motion, while the stiffer sections provide support and prevent excessive leaflet deformation. This reduces stress concentrations and leaflet tears compared to uniform leaflets. The non-uniform leaflets are formed as single continuous pieces. The valve assembly method involves attaching the stiffer sections to the frame while the movable sections are left flexible.

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Prosthetic heart valve with a support structure that actively assists in opening and closing the valve leaflets. The support structure has resilient protrusions coupled to the leaflets and a base. When the transvalvular pressure becomes less negative, the protrusions begin to move from a closed position to an open position, aiding in valve opening. This provides active leaflet assistance compared to passive support structures. The resilient protrusions help the leaflets open and close without needing high leaflet stiffness.

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Prosthetic heart valve assembly that can transition between forward and reverse flow configurations to reduce pressure and afterload during heart contractions. The assembly has a movable docking device with a fixed valve between inflow and outflow ends. The valve can slide within the docking device during flow cycles. This allows multiple flow pathways through the assembly during reverse flow, reducing pressure compared to a fixed valve.

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An artificial heart valve design that aims to improve durability and reduce complications compared to conventional heart valves. The valve has multiple independently functioning incompressible valves connected together. Each valve has its own support seat and frame with attached leaflets. This modular design allows for customizable valve sizes without sacrificing fatigue performance. The multiple valves prevent compression of the native aortic valve and mitigate left ventricular outflow tract obstruction risks. It also reduces valve height compared to a single large valve.

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A prosthetic heart valve designed specifically for the tricuspid valve to address the unique challenges of treating tricuspid regurgitation. The valve is biomechanically secured to the native tricuspid valve leaflets instead of directly attaching to the annulus or chords. This allows the valve to pivot within the native valve annulus in response to pressure changes. The valve has asymmetric leaflets, expanded armsets, and covers to reduce leakage. The expanded armsets have asymmetric lengths to match the native valve leaflets. The covers surround the arms and contact the native valve leaflets. The valve maintains axial stability within the native annulus without attaching to it.

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Prosthetic heart valve design to mitigate blood stagnation and reduce fluttering of the valve flaps. The valve has additional openings in the inner wall through which blood can be redirected away from the main flow path. This mitigates stagnation points and promotes laminar flow. The openings are positioned and sized to prevent turbulence and maintain low shear stress. The redirected flow flushes the valve walls. The valve also has sub-passages to further control flow and reduce the volumetric flow rate. Tethers can couple the flaps to prevent excessive fluttering.

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A prosthetic heart valve for treating mitral regurgitation when the native mitral valve leaflets still allow backflow during systole despite being clipped together. The prosthetic valve has a body with inlet and outlet ports, flaps, and a flow control device between the flaps. It is implanted in the flow control portion between the clipped mitral leaflets. The prosthetic valve allows blood flow during diastole and prevents regurgitation during systole. The body seals with the leaflets and resists displacement. The flow control device replaces the native leaflets' function.

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Prosthetic device for treating heart valve regurgitation that can be implanted in a minimally invasive manner without requiring sutures or an open surgical procedure. The device captures a leaflet of a native heart valve between an anchor and an outer body to seal the valve and reduce regurgitation. The body prevents blood flow through it during systole and diastole. The device can be delivered through a catheter and is retrievable and repositionable.

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Valved conduit prostheses with a valve structure that can be used to replace diseased heart valves and vessels. The prostheses have a flexible leaflet that opens and closes to act as a valve and a conduit lumen. The leaflet attaches externally to the conduit without penetrating the interior. This reduces thrombus formation compared to internal attachment methods. The prostheses can replace native valves and vessels like the pulmonary valve and aortic root. The leaflet-conduit attachment allows easier implantation and avoids reconstruction. The prostheses can be rinsed and not pre-clotted before implantation.

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Artificial heart valve with reduced paravalvular leakage by using an outer skirt that compresses against the native valve annulus to seal gaps, and an inner skirt that prevents fluid leakage between the outer skirt and the valve support. The outer skirt has higher elasticity than the inner skirt. This allows the outer skirt to deform and better conform to the annulus shape for sealing, while the inner skirt maintains contact with the valve support. The skirts surround the valve frame and are connected to enclose a space filled with a fluid. When implanted, the outer skirt first contacts the annulus and compresses the fluid between it and the inner skirt to seal gaps. This reduces paravalvular leakage compared to just filling the gap with a single skirt.

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A prosthetic mitral valve with angled leaflets that directs blood flow towards the posterior wall of the left ventricle. The valve has an expandable frame, a covering, and leaflets angled relative to the longitudinal axis. This design allows the prosthetic valve to be implanted in the native mitral valve and expand into engagement. The angled leaflets direct blood flow parallel to the axis towards the posterior wall of the left ventricle, which may help maintain more natural flow patterns compared to parallel flow.

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Transcatheter prosthetic heart valves that can be delivered through small diameter catheters and deployed orthogonally to the long axis of the catheter. The valve has a compressible tubular frame with an inner flow control component that permits flow in one direction. The valve is deployed by releasing it from the catheter, transitioning from a compressed to expanded configuration. It can be delivered to desired locations in the body via catheters with reduced profile compared to traditional valves.

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A monoleaflet prosthetic heart valve designed to reduce thrombosis and hydraulic resistance compared to existing prosthetic valves. The valve has a specialized leaflet shape, size, and orientation. The leaflet has a flat side, a tapered side with a central groove, and a cylindrical surface. The groove, leaflet thickness, and angular motion are finely tuned dimensions to optimize flow and thrombosis. The leaflet is housed by struts that support it while restricting motion. The struts, valve size, and leaflet placement are adjusted based on the optimized dimensions.

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Securing, tensioning, and re-tensioning a tether of a prosthetic heart valve to improve positioning and adjustability. The tether connects the valve to an anchor outside the heart. After initial tensioning, a collapsible tube with a wire leader is used to access and secure the tether end beyond the anchor. This allows tightening the tether without removing the excess length. The tube can be tensioned proximally to tighten the tether. This enables adjusting valve position post-surgery without re-capturing the tether. The tube can also be used to replace the anchor without losing tension.

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An implantable valve prosthesis for preventing blood reflux from the heart chambers into veins like pulmonary or caval veins. The valve has a collapsible tube with a closed end that protrudes beyond the stent's opening. A stabilization wire supports the tube end to prevent collapse. The valve opens in the neutral state but closes when pressurized. Two valves can be connected to span multiple veins. This allows implanting a single valve in veins connecting to both atria, like pulmonary veins or caval veins, to prevent backflow into the veins during systole.

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