Fiber-reinforced synthetic sheets for prosthetic heart valve leaflets
AssigneeSt. Jude Medical, Inc.
InventorsXueMei Li, Yi-Ren Woo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A structure for use as a prosthetic heart valve leaflet includes a two-dimensional array that is made up of one or more fiber strands and that is covered by a web of polymer material to produce a sheet that is impervious to blood. This sheet is stretchable along two axes that lie in the plane of the sheet and that are at an angle to one another. The sheet may be more easily stretched along one of these axes than along the other axis. Along each axis the amount of force required to produce initial increments of stretch may be less than the amount of force required to produce subsequent increments of stretch (i.e., increments of stretch beyond the initial increments).
Claims15
A prosthetic heart valve leaflet comprising:
- a perforate, flexible, two-dimensional array that is formed from at least one fiber strand and that can be handled without coming apart, the array being stretchable along each of first and second axes that lie in the two dimensions of the array and that are at an angle to one another;
- and
- a web of flexible polymer material secured to and covering the array so that the combination of the array and the web is impervious to blood flow, the web being stretchable with the array along each of the first and second axes, and wherein along each of the axes the amount of force required to produce initial increments of stretch of the leaflet is less than the amount of force required to produce subsequent increments of stretch of the leaflet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.