Patent ID: 9402721
Filing Date: 2016-08-02
CPC Classification: A61B,A61F,A61M

Claim Text:
1. A method for percutaneous transcatheter repair of a target valve in a heart via trans-apical access, the method comprising: introducing a distal end of a guiding sheath into a ventricle of the heart through an access site at an apex of the heart; positioning the distal end of the guiding sheath retrograde through the target valve, wherein the target valve is positioned between the ventricle and an atrium of the heart, and wherein the distal end and a distal portion of the guiding sheath are positioned within the atrium of the heart; inserting an annuloplasty ring arranged in a compressed delivery geometry into the guiding sheath; advancing the annuloplasty ring through the guiding sheath and into the distal portion of the guiding sheath positioned within the atrium of the heart; retracting the distal end of the guiding sheath back through the target valve and into the ventricle of the heart, thereby exposing the annuloplasty ring; expanding the annuloplasty ring from the compressed delivery geometry to an operable geometry; deploying anchors of the annuloplasty ring, the anchors configured to be pressed into and engage tissue of an annulus of the target valve; and retracting the guiding sheath from the access site of the heart, wherein the annuloplasty ring is segmented and in the compressed delivery geometry around a balloon assembly, the balloon assembly comprising: an upper balloon, a lower balloon, and a recess configured to accommodate the annuloplasty ring in the compressed delivery geometry, the upper balloon defining an upper surface of the recess and the lower balloon defining a lower surface of the recess, and wherein expanding the annuloplasty ring comprises inflating the upper balloon and the lower balloon of the balloon assembly, wherein the balloon assembly further comprises a double lumen shaft coupling together the upper balloon and the lower balloon, the double lumen shaft having a first lumen coupled to and configured to direct a fluid or gas into the upper balloon from outside the heart and having a second lumen coupled to and configured to direct a fluid or gas into the lower balloon from outside the heart, wherein the method further comprises: