Stress Reduction in Prosthetic Heart Valve Leaflets

Collapsible transcatheter heart valve with a single flexible leaflet made of biocompatible tissue like pericardium. The leaflet has a body that can flex between open and closed positions, with a separate extension integral to the body. This allows the leaflet to move independently from the frame during valve closure, reducing stress concentrations compared to fixed leaflets. The flexible leaflet design provides improved durability for single leaflet valves by distributing closing forces over the leaflet area instead of concentrating them on a single point.

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Heart valve prosthesis to reduce thrombus formation by using a capsule connected to the stent that expands and collapses around the commissure points between the artificial valve leaflets. The capsule has a gap facing the outflow end. When the valve opens, the capsule is collapsed, allowing full blood flow. When the valve closes, the capsule expands around the leaflet commissures to seal, preventing blood flow stagnation and thrombus formation.

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Prosthetic heart valve with safety mechanisms to prevent failure. The valve has leaflets that rotate on hinges around a base. An angled dihedral guard protrudes inward from the base. Each leaflet has a slot matching the dihedral guard angle. When the valve closes, the leaflets align with the guard to prevent over-rotation and prevent the leaflets from falling below the guard. This prevents valve failure by preventing leaflet distortions, hinge fractures, poor valve longevity, and prosthetic valve leakages.

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Prosthetic heart valve with asymmetric leaflets that reduce the possibility of occlusion volume and blood stagnation near the leaflets and attachment to the support structure. The leaflets have different sized regions on each side that move asymmetrically. In the open position, the smaller side region extends further into the lumen than the larger side region. This asymmetry helps synchronize flow and prevent retrograde flow. The leaflets also have asymmetric attachment points to the frame. The leaflet base is smaller than the side regions, causing them to pivot asymmetrically.

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Artificial heart valves with improved blood flow characteristics to reduce thromboembolism compared to existing valves. The valves have asymmetric leaflets that join at angles rather than meeting straight across the base. This allows the leaflets to open and close without obstructing blood flow like symmetrical leaflets do. The valves also have connecting edges that extend beyond the base. When multiple valves are used, the connecting edges butt against each other to form a seamless continuous valve. The asymmetric leaflets and extended connecting edges prevent blood from pooling between the valves and forming clots.

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Transcatheter prosthetic heart valves that can be compressed for delivery via a catheter without damaging the leaflets. The valves have a skirt that fully encapsulates the leaflets both when compressed and expanded. This prevents localized forces from deforming the leaflets during compression. The skirt extends beyond the leaflet edges in the compressed state to protect them. The skirt also extends past the coaptation area in the expanded state. This configuration allows consistent loading of the valve into a compact catheter shape without risking leaflet damage.

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Prosthetic heart valves with reinforced leaflets for improved durability during implantation and expansion. The leaflets have a cusp edge reinforcement structure attached along the edge. This reinforcement includes reinforcing members on opposing major surfaces of the leaflet. The leaflets are sewn to the frame at the cusp edge using the reinforcing members. This prevents excessive stretching and deformation of the leaflets during implantation and expansion. The reinforced leaflets provide enhanced structural integrity compared to traditional un-reinforced leaflets.

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Artificial heart valve design with improved durability and reduced calcification compared to traditional valves. The valve has a unique fixation mechanism for the leaflets to attach to the stent. The stent has a walled groove that the leaflets pass through and connect to. This allows evenly fixing the leaflets to the stent without wrinkles. This reduces stress concentration and calcification compared to sewing the leaflets to the stent. The smooth leaflet attachment prevents tears and calcification from blood flow impact.

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Prosthetic heart valve with an outer skirt that conforms better to irregular anatomies when implanted. The skirt has a deformable reinforcement member that extends radially outward when the valve expands. This projects the skirt away from the native tissue and reduces paravalvular leakage. The reinforcement member is attached to the skirt and extends circumferentially around the frame. It can deform between a compressed state against the frame and an expanded state projecting radially outward. This allows the skirt to fill gaps between the valve and irregular anatomy when the valve expands.

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An implant to improve coaptation of atrioventricular valves to prevent prolapse and leaking. The implant has a prosthetic leaflet secured to a support structure that holds a portion of the valve annulus. Retention means prevent prolapse by engaging from below the prosthetic leaflet. The support structure has ribs extending perpendicularly from a perforated backbone element. This provides a stable implant that avoids additional structures like retention arms inside the ventricle. The ribs and frame prevent flexing of the prosthetic leaflet during valve motion.

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Artificial heart valve design with improved durability and fixation for percutaneous interventional implantation. The valve has a skirt unit with a downward concave defect and a leaflet unit with a matching downward protrusion. The skirt and leaflet connect with sutures through the concave/protrusion interface. This allows the skirt to anchor against the heart wall and prevent upward displacement of the leaflets. The valve also has lifting parts on the leaflets that wrap around the stent mesh to secure it. This prevents upward migration of the valve during expansion. The stent has positioning members with roots and bottoms. The roots attach to the stent and the bottoms penetrate the heart wall for anchoring. This allows the valve to expand and secure itself without separating from the stent. The lifting parts, protrusions, and roots provide additional fixation points compared

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An artificial heart valve design to improve durability and reduce replacement frequency. The valve has a reinforcing layer added to the leaflets and a suture ring around the frame. The reinforcing layer increases leaflet strength and fatigue resistance. The suture ring provides additional support and anchoring for the valve in the native annulus. The reinforcing layer is fixed to the leaflet base and extends into the suture ring. This disperses stress and prevents concentration at the leaflet base. The suture ring can extend into the aorta or left atrium for secure anchoring.

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Valve prosthesis design for heart valve replacements that improves leaflet closure, stability, and reduces calcification compared to conventional designs. The valve prosthesis has a stent, valve leaflets, and a unique connector between them. The connector folds around the stent rod to accommodate it. The folded connector has extended parts that attach to the leaflets and connect them to the stent. This arrangement allows the leaflets to fully close around the stent and provides stable attachment without stress concentrations that can calcify the leaflets.

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Artificial polymer heart valve design with improved fatigue resistance and longer service life compared to conventional valves. The valve has a hollow frame with peaks at one end and multiple leaflets connecting adjacent peaks. The leaflets have a curved shape with at least one thinned region along the curve. The thinned regions increase stress dispersion and reduce peak stresses compared to uniform thickness leaflets. This improves fatigue resistance and extends valve life. The thinned regions also allow earlier leaflet opening for better overall valve performance.

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Prosthetic heart valve design with reduced contact between the valve supports and the balloon of a delivery catheter when compressing the valve for implantation. The valve has a collapsible frame with angled supports. The leaflets have connecting skirts with central portions and base portions. The skirts attach the leaflet edges to the frame supports. This configuration allows the leaflet cusps to fold into the frame instead of directly contacting the balloon when compressing the valve for delivery. An external sealing member around the frame further isolates the leaflet edges from the balloon.

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Artificial heart valve design to improve performance and longevity compared to existing interventional valves. The valve replaces the native posterior leaflet of the mitral valve with an artificial leaflet that seals against the native anterior leaflet. This preserves the healthy anterior leaflet while replacing the failing posterior leaflet. The valve also has features like barbs on the stent to anchor it to the mitral annulus and a clamp structure to secure the artificial leaflet between the native leaflets. This reduces trauma and force on the artificial leaflet compared to compressing it into the native valve.

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Artificial heart valve prosthesis designed to reduce the risk of left ventricular rupture during implantation compared to conventional valves. The valve has a stent assembly with leaflets and feet that extend away from the inflow end. The distance from the feet to the stent axis gradually decreases towards the outflow end. This configuration avoids the long feet scratching the left ventricle wall. The valve seat also has extending rods that correspond to the feet. The rods and feet are connected, allowing the rods to pull the feet closer to the axis as they extend. This prevents the feet from contacting the left ventricle wall during implantation. The skirt and covering cloth enclose the valve assembly and connect the rods to prevent displacement during surgery.

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A prosthetic tricuspid valve that can be implanted in a native tricuspid valve without direct attachment to the annulus or chordae tendineae. The valve has asymmetrical support structures that grasp the native leaflets and allow the prosthetic valve to move with the native valve during the cardiac cycle. This biodynamic design preserves native annulus motion and prevents issues like heart block. The valve has leaflets, covers, and arms that attach to the native leaflets and surround the native annulus.

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Valve tear-resistant structure for prosthetic heart valves that improves durability by protecting both sides of the artificial valve leaflet. The structure uses a folded U-shaped wear strip that encloses the inflow end of the leaflet and connects it to the valve frame. This provides complete wraparound protection for the inflow edge, preventing tear-out when suturing the leaflet to the frame. The strip also covers the leaflet near the axial side of the frame, which is exposed to suture tension.

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Artificial heart valve with improved coordination between leaflets to reduce regurgitation and prolong valve life. The leaflets have connecting ears on each side that have aligned holes. A flexible connector with matching holes is inserted through the holes to join the adjacent leaflets. This allows motion transmission between the leaflets for better coordination and reduces regurgitation compared to sewn leaflets with variable heights.

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