Fabric material for medical devices

Inventors

Alkhatib, Yousef F. • Reimer, Jay • Ashworth, Paul E. • High, Keith T. • Kaleta, Richard • Finn, Ryan

Assignees

Abbott Laboratories

Abstract

At least a portion of fabrics for use in medical devices is formed from polymeric materials. The fabrics may be uncoated, partially coated or fully coated with one or more layers of a polymer. The fabrics may be used for the leaflets and/or cuffs of prosthetic heart valves and as a component of other medical devices.

Core Innovation

The invention relates to a prosthetic heart valve that includes an expandable stent extending in a longitudinal direction between an inflow end and an outflow end, a cuff coupled to a luminal surface of the stent, and a plurality of prosthetic leaflets formed separately from the cuff and coupled to at least one of the cuff and the stent. The plurality of prosthetic leaflets are adapted to allow blood to flow from the inflow end toward the outflow end when in the open condition and to retard blood from flowing from the outflow end toward the inflow end when in the closed condition. Each leaflet has a free edge adapted to move as the leaflets transition between the open condition and the closed condition, and each leaflet has an attachment edge directly attached by sutures to at least one of the cuff or the stent.

The fabric forming the leaflets has interlaced groups of fibers in an ordered arrangement, where a first group of fibers extends in a first direction of the fabric and a second group of fibers extends in a second direction different from the first direction. Both fiber groups are composed of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). The fabric has a thread count of between about 300 and about 500 fibers by between about 100 and about 300 fibers per square inch, and a fabric thickness of between about 50 μm and about 100 μm.

A nonwoven polymer coating is provided on at least one of the first major surface or the second major surface of each leaflet adjacent the attachment edge such that the sutures extend through the nonwoven polymer coating. The coating is applied so that at least some portion of the first major surface is not coated and at least some portion of the second major surface is not coated, and the nonwoven polymer coating forms a coated leaflet portion. The strength of the coated leaflet portion is greater than the strength of the fabric.

Claims Coverage

Not explicitly described in patent.

Not explicitly described in patent.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications