Patent ID: 11911267
Assignee: THE DAVID J. WHEATLEY DISCRETIONARY TRUST
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. An artificial heart valve suitable to be delivered percutaneously, comprising:
a plurality of support elements in the form of a plurality of base segments and a plurality of posts;
a plurality of flexible leaflets, each leaflet attached to two of the posts; and
one or more strings passing through the plurality of support elements,
wherein the artificial heart valve is configurable between a collapsed delivery configuration in which the posts are located side-by-side and closer together and an expanded operational configuration in which the posts are located side-by-side and further apart, and
wherein, when the artificial heart valve is in the collapsed delivery configuration, application of tension to the one or more strings pulls each support element into engagement with adjacent support elements until the artificial heart valve adopts the expanded operational configuration in which the support elements together form a support structure defining an aperture for blood flow and in which the leaflets are movable between an open configuration in which the leaflets permit blood flow through the artificial heart valve and a closed configuration in which the leaflets restrict blood flow through the artificial heart valve.