Heart valve manufacturing devices and methods

A suturing system comprising:

• an automated suture fixture comprising a plurality of actuator devices and a suture target holder, the automated suture fixture being configured to position a target device mounted to the suture target holder;
• a vision assist system comprising a source of light and an optical fiber with a light-emitting end and a light-receiving end optically coupled to the source of light, the vision assist system configured to use the light-emitting end of the optical fiber to project a visual indicator on a targeted location of the target device;
• a data store storing suturing procedure script data, the suturing procedure script data including a first data set representing a plurality of positions of the automated suture fixture and the suture target holder for a suturing procedure, the data store further storing target device data including a second data set representing the target device shape in three-dimensional space;
• and
• a controller configured to access the suturing procedure script data and the target device data, to provide position control signals to the automated suture fixture and to the vision assist system based at least in part on the suturing procedure script data and the target device data,
• wherein the light-emitting end of the optical fiber is positioned within the target device and the visual indicator is generated by backlighting the target device with light generated by the source of light and emerging from the light-emitting end of the optical fiber,
• wherein the source of light and the light-receiving end of the optical fiber remain fixed relative to the vision assist system and the target holder,
• wherein the plurality of actuator devices of the automated fixture is configured to move and to orient the light-emitting end of the optical fiber to change a location of the visual indicator.