Iris-style crimpers for medical devices

A crimper for altering an implantable medical device from an uncompressed state to a compressed state, the implantable medical device including a first section and a second section, the second section including a valve and being denser than the first section, the crimper comprising:

• a housing;
• at least one cam disposed within an interior of the housing such that the at least one cam is disposed radially inward relative to an interior surface of the housing;
• a plurality of crimper elements defining a crimper chamber, each of the crimper elements including a non-planar surface that forms a portion of the crimper chamber, the non-planar surface having a first longitudinal portion and a second longitudinal portion, wherein each non-planar surface is configured to apply a non-uniform radial compression along a length of the implantable medical device during operation of the crimper such that the implantable medical device has a substantially uniform profile in the compressed state, and wherein a first radial force is applied onto the first section of the implantable medical device by the first longitudinal portion of the non-planar surface and a second radial force is applied onto the second section of the implantable medical device by the second longitudinal portion of the non-planar surface, the second radial force being greater than the first radial force;
• and
• a plurality of rods, each rod having a first end and a second end opposing the first end, wherein the first end is rotatably attached to the cam via a first connector and the second end is rotatably attached to a crimper element of the plurality of crimper elements via a second connector;
• a handle configured to operate the crimper and coupled to the at least one cam, wherein movement of the handle rotates the at least one cam and the at least one cam transforms the rotational motion of the handle into linear motion of the plurality of crimper elements via only the plurality of rods, the first connectors, and the second connectors, thereby displacing the plurality of crimper elements radially inwards, and wherein the displacement of the crimper elements decreases a volume of the crimper chamber to transition the implantable medical device from the uncompressed state to the compressed state.