Reducing Stress on Leaflets of Prosthetic Heart Valves

Prosthetic heart valve with adjustable commissure supports that allow the valve to be expanded to a wide range of diameters while maintaining proper leaflet coaptation. The commissure supports have adjustable arms that can be rotated or twisted to adjust the tension on the attached leaflets. This allows customizing the valve diameter for each patient by adjusting the commissure support arms to match the expansion diameter of the valve frame. A delivery assembly allows in-situ adjustment of the commissure supports after valve implantation.

A medical device and method for replacing a failed heart valve without open heart surgery. The device is an implantable heart valve that can be inserted inside an existing prosthetic heart valve to replace it. The new valve has a lattice frame with protrusions that engage the old valve's frame. This allows the new valve to expand and seat securely within the old valve. The lattice structure provides a large annulus area for blood flow. The lattice protrusions engage the old valve's frame to prevent dislodgement. This allows a second valve replacement inside a first valve without needing a larger annulus.

Prosthetic heart valve leaflets that mimic the structure and function of natural heart valves to provide long-term durability and prevent valve failure. The leaflets are designed to replicate the composition, thickness, and shape of natural valve leaflets to optimize valve mechanics, competence, and coaptation. This involves balancing stiffness and flexibility, having redundant tissue at the leaflet tips for closure, and having elastic fibers extending from the hinge to the coaptation edge.

A prosthetic heart valve design to reduce tissue trauma and stress during implantation compared to traditional stented valves. The valve has an annular frame with a valvular structure of leaflets. The leaflet inflow edges extend outside the frame. An inner skirt partially surrounds the frame inside. Alternatively, an outer support layer extends beyond the frame inflow end. This allows the leaflet inflow edges to be unsupported by the frame. This reduces interaction between the frame and native tissue at the annulus and LVOT, potentially avoiding rupture and trauma during implantation.

Prosthetic heart valve design that improves sealing, blood flow, and reduces complications compared to conventional valves. The valve has a raised atrial halo structure that elevates the leaflets above the native annulus. This encourages complete leaflet coaptation to prevent regurgitation. The halo structure also allows proper leaflet alignment for efficient ventricular filling. The valve has a compliant outer support that seats securely in the annulus without excessive loads on the inner valve assembly. This reduces wear and degradation. The valve also has a pocket that retains thrombus to reduce leakage.

A percutaneously-deliverable heart valve prosthesis with a self-expanding frame and an asymmetric hourglass shape that conforms to patient anatomy while maintaining proper valve function. The frame has a conical inflow section, an enlarged distal section, and a constriction region with a predefined curvature. The valve body with three leaflets is attached to the frame. The leaflet ends fold over to form commissures that align with frame contours. This reduces stress concentrations. The asymmetric frame allows adaptation to patient anatomy while the constriction section maintains valve function.

Collapsible prosthetic heart valve that can be repositioned during deployment to improve implantation and reduce leakage. The valve has a stent with commissure features that have eyelets for distributing leaflet load. The leaflets attach to these eyelets. This allows the leaflets to move relative to the commissures when the valve is collapsed and deployed, allowing better adaptation to irregular native valve shapes. The eyelets also disperse load to prevent tearing.

Collapsible prosthetic heart valve for minimally invasive transcatheter implantation that replaces a native mitral valve. The valve collapses for delivery through a catheter and expands in place. It has an annular ring with pivot joints between segments. The ring is positioned against the ventricular side of the native mitral valve. The ring segments rotate to engage the native chordae tendineae, gathering them between the segments and anchors. This provides support and replaces the native valve. The ring segments pivot back to expand the valve. The ring has skirts for flush implantation.

Stent-based prosthetic heart valve with optimized geometry and radial force distribution to improve anchoring, sealing, and minimizing paravalvular leakage in minimally invasive heart valve replacement procedures. The valve has a conical-convex inflow region, linear cylindrical outflow region, and transition region. The inflow region has smaller cells to adapt to irregular annuli. The radial force is optimized with distribution across the stent to securely anchor the valve and prevent migration while avoiding excessive force on heart tissue. This helps prevent paravalvular leakage, conduction issues, and tissue damage. The stent design also minimizes buckling and infolding during implantation and repositioning.

Collapsible prosthetic heart valve with improved sealing and positioning to reduce leakage and complications during implantation. The valve has an expandable stent, valve assembly with leaflets, and elongated legs that extend during delivery and retract during expansion. This allows the valve to conform better to irregular annulus shapes. A sealing portion forms around the annulus when the legs relax.

Collapsible prosthetic heart valve with improved cuff attachments to address leakage, durability, and crimp profile. The cuff is coupled to struts at multiple points using sutures, rather than just at the top and bottom. This allows the cuff to closely follow the shape of the struts, reducing gaps between the valve and native annulus. The cuff thickness can also vary to better match the strut thickness. This improves seal and reduces leakage. The cuff material can be porous with expandable microspheres to promote tissue growth for better anchoring. Adding a buffer layer between the cuff and struts can reduce wear and prolong valve life.

Collapsible, expandable tissue-based replacement heart valves that can be delivered percutaneously and implanted in the mitral valve without open surgery. The valves have a unique crescent shape with an atrial portion to prevent leakage and a ventricular portion to displace diseased leaflets. They also have fixation members that lock into the mitral annulus. The valves can be crimped and delivered through catheters, then expanded in place. The atrial portion conforms to the annulus, and the fixation members secure the valve. The valves have flexible prosthetic leaflets that coapt with the native leaflets. The design aims to prevent dislodgement, paravalvular leakage, and further mitral annulus dilation.

A prosthetic heart valve design to minimize stress on the valve leaflets for improved durability. The valve has a collapsible stent frame with flexible connections between the stent cells. The flexible stent has a main body with proximal and distal ends, support struts, and one or more support posts. The stent cells at the proximal and distal ends are longitudinally spaced apart.

Heart valve design with a unique interconnection between the leaflets and frame that allows folding and unfolding of the implant. The valve has a crown piece connecting the leaflets to the frame. The crown piece is sewn directly to the frame posts using sutures through holes. This allows the valve to fold by collapsing the posts and unfold by expanding them. The crown piece also has sections that overlap and sew to the posts, further aiding folding. The valve can be folded and implanted using tension threads. The folded valve has a reduced diameter.

A heart valve replacement system for treating valve diseases like pulmonary valve stenosis or regurgitation. The replacement valve has a stent with bent sections to conform to the native pulmonary artery shape, and adjustable length sections for custom fitting. The valve also has prosthetic leaflets with prongs that attach to the stent. This allows secure anchoring of the valve in place during cardiac cycles. The valve can be compressed for catheter delivery, then expanded in the heart.