Patent ID: 11872125
Assignee: EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES CORPORATION
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. A system, comprising:
a delivery catheter comprising a balloon; and
an implantable prosthetic heart valve, comprising:
a plastically expandable and compressible unitary frame having an inflow end portion and an outflow end portion, the frame comprising first, second, and third rows of angled struts that define two circumferentially extending rows of diamond-shaped cells that extend continuously around the frame, and
a valvular structure comprising a plurality of leaflets formed of pericardial tissue, each leaflet having an upper edge, first and second opposing commissure tabs, and a cusp edge portion, wherein each commissure tab is secured to an adjacent commissure tab of an adjacent leaflet to form a plurality of commissures that are connected to the outflow end portion of the frame;

wherein the cusp edge portion of each leaflet is connected to the frame by an inner skirt that is connected to and disposed between the frame and the cusp edge portions of the leaflets, the inner skirt being connected to the frame via sutures that extend around consecutive angled struts in the first, the second, and the third rows of angled struts such that the sutures extend around at least one strut in each of the first, the second, and the third rows of angled struts; and
wherein the implantable prosthetic heart valve can be mounted around the balloon in a compressed configuration and radially expanded to an expanded configuration with the balloon inside a patient's body.