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US 6,283,994 B1Granted
Heart valve leaflet
AssigneeSulzer Carbomedics Inc.
InventorsRiyad E. Moe, Edward J. Sarnowski, Xiao-Yan Gong
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Abstract
A heart valve is disclosed which includes a valve body and a plurality of flexible leaflets coupled to the valve body. The plurality of leaflets has an open position and a closed position. Each of the plurality of leaflets comprises a belly when the plurality of leaflets are in their respective closed positions. The belly of one or more of the plurality of leaflets has a continuous curvature except for a non-continuous portion.
Claims23
A heart valve comprising
- a valve body having an axis;
- a plurality of flexible leaflets coupled to the valve body, each of the leaflets having
- 1) an open position;
- 2) a closed position;
- 3) an attachment edge coupling said leaflet to the valve body said attachment edge having a bottom point;
- and
- 4) a free edge not coupled to the valve body said free edge being above said attachment edge and having a center point;
- 5) a line between said center point and said bottom point, and
- 6) a curved belly portion not contacting any other leaflet;
- at least one of the plurality of leaflets comprising a spine area in said belly, the spine area being generally symmetrical around said line and having a different curvature than the non-spine portion of the belly.
7 more elements
A method for opening a closed heart valve comprising
- 1) providing a heart valve having a plurality of flexible polymeric leaflets, at least one leaflet having a curved belly in a closed position said belly not contacting any other leaflet, and a region in said belly that is more susceptible to buckle than the rest of said belly, and
- 2) providing pressure from an inflow direction of the valve, wherein the pressure collapses said region of said at least one leaflet before the remaining portion of the leaflet collapses.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.