Patent ID: 9289292
Filing Date: 2016-03-22
CPC Classification: A61F

Claim Text:
1. A prosthetic heart valve, comprising: a stent having a collapsed condition and an expanded condition, the stent having a proximal end, a distal end and a plurality of cells, each cell being formed by a plurality of struts; an underwire disposed around a perimeter of the stent; and a valve assembly secured to the stent, the valve assembly including a cuff and a plurality of leaflets, each of the plurality of leaflets having a pair of attachment portions, a free edge extending between the pair of attachment portions, and a belly portion extending between the pair of attachment portions and disposed opposite the free edge, a portion of the underwire having a shape that conforms to belly portions of the plurality of leaflets, the cuff being coupled to the underwire and the plurality of leaflets, and the cuff being disposed between the underwire and portions of the plurality of leaflets; wherein the stent includes a plurality of commissure features and the underwire is coupled to the cuff with a repeating pattern, the pattern including a descending portion extending toward the proximal end of the stent, an ascending portion extending toward a commissure feature, and an intermediate portion between the descending portion and the ascending portion, the pattern being disposed solely between the commissure features and the proximal end of the stent.