Patent ID: 11864997
Assignee: EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES CORPORATION
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 8:
9. A method of positioning a prosthetic heart valve, comprising:
inserting a distal end portion of a delivery apparatus into a patient's vasculature, wherein the distal end portion comprises a prosthetic heart valve mounted thereon;
advancing the distal end portion of the delivery apparatus and the prosthetic heart valve to an implantation location;
inflating an inner balloon to a first pressure with a fluid, wherein inflating the inner balloon to the first pressure results in partial expansion of the prosthetic heart valve;
partially inflating an outer balloon of the delivery apparatus disposed at the distal end portion of the delivery apparatus with the fluid, wherein the outer balloon is sealed so as to prevent fluid from flowing out of the outer balloon into the patient's vasculature, and wherein partially inflating the outer balloon comprises inflating the outer balloon with the fluid from the inner balloon flowing into the outer balloon from pores of the inner balloon;
inflating the inner balloon from the first pressure to a second pressure, wherein the second pressure is greater than the first pressure, and wherein the inner balloon is configured to rupture at the second pressure;
and after rupturing the inner balloon, fully inflating the outer balloon, wherein fully inflating the outer balloon results in full expansion of the prosthetic heart valve.