Cuff stitching reinforcement
AssigneeSt. Jude Medical, Cardiology Division, Inc.
InventorsPeter N. Braido, Andrea L. McCarthy, Kent J. Smith
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A prosthetic heart valve includes a collapsible and expandable stent having a proximal end, a distal end, an annulus section adjacent the proximal end and an aortic section adjacent the distal end, the stent including a plurality of struts. A cuff may be coupled to the stent so that a flat, bottom edge of the cuff lies adjacent the proximal end of the stent. A pattern of stitches may be circumferentially disposed around the flat bottom edge of the cuff, the pattern of stitches alternating between stitches sewn to the cuff only and stitches sewn to both the cuff and the stent.
Claims11
A prosthetic heart valve, comprising:
- a collapsible and expandable stent having an inflow end at a proximal end, an outflow end at a distal end, an annulus section adjacent the inflow end and an aortic section adjacent the outflow end, the stent including a plurality of struts forming a plurality of cells disposed in rows;
- a cuff coupled to the stent so that a flat bottom edge of the cuff lies adjacent the inflow end of the stent, the cuff fully covering each cell of a proximal-most row of cells closest to the inflow end of the stent;
- and
- a recurring pattern of stitches circumferentially disposed around the flat bottom edge of the cuff and coupling the cuff to the stent only, the recurring pattern of stitches including stitches of two different types, each of the two different types being sewn to the flat bottom edge of the cuff;
- and wherein the two different types of stiches include a first type of stitch sewn to the cuff only.
A method of making a prosthetic heart valve, comprising:
- providing a collapsible and expandable stent having an inflow end at a proximal end, an outflow end at a distal end, an annulus section adjacent the inflow end and an aortic section adjacent the outflow end, the stent including a plurality of struts forming a plurality of cells disposed in rows;
- coupling a cuff to the stent so that a flat bottom edge of the cuff lies adjacent the inflow end of the stent so that the cuff fully covers each cell of a proximal-most row of cells closest to the inflow end of the stent;
- and
- sewing a recurring pattern of stitches circumferentially around the flat bottom edge of the cuff so as to couple the cuff to the stent only, the recurring pattern of stitches including stitches of two types;
- and wherein sewing a pattern of stitches comprises sewing a first type of stitch that is a locking stitch sewn to the cuff only.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.