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 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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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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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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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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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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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.

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Prosthetic heart valve design that improves durability and prevents leaflet damage by using a skirt between the leaflets and frame. The skirt buffers the leaflets from direct contact with the frame when they close, preventing concentrations of stress that can tear or damage the leaflets. The skirt also provides reinforcement at the connection points between the skirt and frame. The skirt is sewn to the leaflet first, then to the frame, allowing the skirt to act as a cushion between the leaflet and frame. This prevents direct pulling forces on the leaflets when they close. The skirt also provides a reinforced area at the connection points between the skirt and frame, which reduces stress concentrations and makes the area flat for easier handling.

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Artificial heart valve made of polymer material that overcomes some limitations of existing mechanical and biological valves. The polymer valve has leaflets that are arranged along the circumference of the valve and meet at junctions. In the natural state, the valve is not fully closed but has gaps between the leaflets. This allows blood to flow through the valve more easily compared to fully closed polymer valves. The leaflets have curved surfaces with different upper curves that converge at the junctions. This configuration reduces stress concentrations and transvalvular pressure differences during opening.

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Synthetic flexible leaflet prosthetic heart valve design with improved durability and transcatheter delivery capabilities. The valve has a unique leaflet shape with truncated bases that attach to a frame. The truncated bases prevent creasing and stress concentration when the leaflets close. The frames overlap to provide structural support. The frames are coated with a film to prevent contact. This allows the valve to compress and expand for transcatheter delivery. The frames and leaflets have isosceles triangular shapes. The valve aims to provide a durable synthetic valve for transcatheter implantation that can replace bioprosthetic valves.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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A valve prosthesis design that improves closure, stability, and reduces calcification risk compared to conventional artificial heart valves. The prosthesis has a valve leaflet connector that folds around the support rod to connect the leaflet to the stent. This configuration improves leaflet closure, reduces stress concentration, and prevents calcification compared to attaching the leaflet directly to the stent.

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