Modified prosthetic heart valve stent

Inventors

Pintor, Rafael • Uppalapati, Sai Prasad

Assignees

Edwards Lifesciences Corp

Abstract

A prosthetic heart valve having an expandable stent modified to reduce the impact on the adjacent conduction system of the heart. A plurality of flexible leaflets arranged to close together along a flow axis through the valve prevent blood flow in one direction, and a support frame surrounds and supports the leaflets. The stent is defined by a plurality of connected struts arranged around a circumference. A pattern of the struts is consistent around the circumference except in a modified region on one side so that when converted to the expanded configuration the stent on the one side expands radially outward a smaller distance and/or has larger cells defined between the struts than around a remainder of the circumference. The stent may be connected to a non-collapsible valve member or the entire valve may be expandable. The valve may be for implant at the aortic annulus and the modified region may be centered at a commissure post of the support frame.

Core Innovation

The invention concerns a prosthetic heart valve configured for implant at an aortic annulus and includes a valve member with a non-expandable, non-collapsible annular support frame surrounding and supporting three flexible leaflets. The support frame defines three commissure posts at intersections between the leaflets and the support frame, and the valve member has an inflow end and an outflow end that permits blood flow in an outflow direction. A plastically-expandable stent is connected to and extends axially away from the inflow end of the support frame.

The stent has an outflow end that is generally annular and non-expandable and non-collapsible at the connection, while an inflow end of the stent spaced axially from the inflow end is convertible from a radially contracted configuration to a radially expanded configuration. The stent is defined by a plurality of interconnected struts with a pattern of interconnected struts that is consistent around a circumference except for a modified region on one circumferential side aligned with one of the three commissure posts. When expanded, the modified region has larger cells defined between the interconnected struts and expands radially outward a smaller distance than outside the modified region.

The invention further includes a sealing ring circumscribing the valve at an axial location approximately at the connection between the valve member and the stent. The sealing ring is formed of suture-permeable material and presents an outward flange sized to contact an outflow side of the aortic annulus when implanted. In one form, the sealing ring has a distinct elongated marking aligned with the modified region of the stent.

Claims Coverage

The provided excerpt identifies two independent claims. Across these independent claims, the central inventive concept is a plastically-expandable stent with a circumferentially localized modified region that expands radially outward less and forms larger cells, coordinated with alignment to commissure posts, and associated sealing-ring structure.

In both independent claims, the inventive coverage centers on a plastically-expandable stent whose expanded configuration includes a circumferentially localized modified region that yields larger cells and reduced radial outward expansion, with the modified region aligned with a commissure post; the second independent claim further adds a distinct elongated marking on the sealing ring aligned with that modified region.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications