System and method for positioning an artificial heart valve at the position of a malfunctioning valve of a heart through a percutaneous route

A method for positioning an artificial heart valve at the anatomic position of a malfunctioning heart valve of a heart of a patient, by employing a valve replacement catheter bearing the artificial heart valve and a valve fixation device, at the tip of the catheter, the method comprising:

• determining a trajectory along which the valve replacement catheter will move by acquiring position readings of a first medical positioning system (MPS) sensor disposed in a mapping catheter and coupled to the MPS;
• providing a user interface for receiving the marking input from a user, independent of the trajectory and respective of the anatomic position of the malfunctioning heart valve, the marking input comprising at least position information indicative of the anatomic position and a marking information indicating that the user has affirmatively designated the position information as indicative of the anatomic position;
• moving said tip of the valve replacement catheter towards the anatomic position;
• constantly detecting the current position of said artificial heart valve according to an output of a second MPS sensor disposed in the valve replacement catheter;
• and
• producing an indication when the determined current position substantially matches the anatomic position, thereby enabling the valve replacement catheter to fix the malfunctioning heart valve in place, by the valve fixation device.