# US 10,478,290 B2 · Expandable stent valve > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,478,290 B2 - Document ID: US10478290B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/039,510 - Filed: 2014-11-26 - Published: 2017-01-19 - Granted: 2019-11-19 - Earliest claimed: 2013-11-26 - Assignees: Children's Medical Center Corporation - Applicants: Children's Medical Center Corporation - Inventors: Sitaram Emani; James E. Lock; Pedro J. del Nido; Audrey C. Marshall - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10478290B2 ## CPC - A61F 2/2418: {Scaffolds therefor, e.g. support stents} - A61F 2/2409: {Support rings therefor, e.g. for connecting valves to tissue (annuloplasty rings A61F2/2442)} - A61F 2002/061: {provided with means for allowing access to secondary lumens} - A61F 2220/0008: Fixation appliances for connecting prostheses to the body - A61F 2220/0075: sutured, ligatured or stitched, retained or tied with a rope, string, thread, wire or cable - A61F 2230/0067: conical - A61F 2250/0039: differing in diameter - A61F 2250/0069: Sealing means - A61F: FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS (dental prosthetics A61C) ## Abstract An expandable valve (100) and valve frame device that may be implanted within the body, for example, at a position of the heart. The device may be surgically implanted and subsequently expanded at a later time. The device may include an expandable sewing member (160) surrounding the valve frame (130) at a region between upstream and downstream ends of the device, for attaching the device to surrounding tissue. The device may include a membrane (140) for blocking leakage out the side of the valve frame between opposite ends. However, the membrane may include a side opening (170) for guiding fluid flow toward an appropriate anatomical outflow tract. The device may include a hood-like covering attached to a tissue wall, for smoothly receiving and guiding fluid flow along a perpendicular bend. The device may further include a flared opening at a downstream end, providing adequate space for device attachment. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A device for implantation at a position of a heart, the device comprising: a valve frame defining a lumen, the valve frame having an upstream end and a downstream end; a plurality of valve leaflets attached to and disposed within the valve frame; a sewing member surrounding the valve frame at a region between the upstream end and the downstream end, for forming an attachment to tissue at the position of the heart; and a membrane disposed about the valve frame for obstructing fluid flow between the lumen and an external region surrounding the valve frame, wherein the valve frame is expandable, and a portion of the membrane at a side region of the downstream end of the valve frame comprises an opening that permits fluid flow through the side region. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the valve frame is expandable from a first diameter between 9 mm and 18 mm to a second diameter between 10 mm and 22 mm. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the sewing member is expandable. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the sewing member is attached to the valve frame. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the opening comprises a cut out of the membrane extending along a plane that is parallel to or forms an angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of the valve frame. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The device of claim 5, wherein a downstream end of the membrane comprises a cut out extending along a plane that is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the valve frame. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the sewing member comprises a corrugated cuff. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the valve frame is expandable from a first diameter between 11 mm and 13 mm to a second diameter between 13 mm and 15 mm. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein an edge of at least one of the upstream end and the downstream end of the valve frame has a level surface. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, further comprising an attachment region proximate to the downstream end of the valve frame, for forming an attachment to tissue at a wall of the heart. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the valve frame has a length of between 1.0 cm and 2.5 cm. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the sewing member is located substantially concentric with the plurality of valve leaflets. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the position comprises a mitral valve position of the heart. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the sewing member surrounds the valve frame at approximately a midpoint between the upstream end and the downstream end. ### Claim 15 A method of implanting a device at a position of the heart, the device including a valve frame defining a lumen, the valve frame having an upstream end and a downstream end, a plurality of valve leaflets attached to and disposed within the valve frame, and a membrane disposed about the valve frame for obstructing fluid flow between the lumen and an external region surrounding the valve frame, wherein the valve frame is expandable, and a portion of the membrane at a side region of the downstream end of the valve frame comprises an opening that permits fluid flow through the side region, the method comprising: positioning the valve frame at the position of the heart; and attaching a sewing member surrounding the valve frame at a region between the upstream end and the downstream end to tissue at the position of the heart.