Patent ID: 9408695
Filing Date: 2016-08-09
CPC Classification: A61B,A61F,A61N

Claim Text:
1. A method of minimally-invasively treating mitral valve regurgitation, the method comprising: advancing a delivery device to a patient's coronary sinus, the delivery device comprising a catheter; advancing an intraluminal cardiac device in a collapsed configuration through a lumen of the catheter into the coronary sinus with the delivery device releasably secured to a proximal end of the intraluminal cardiac device, the intraluminal cardiac device comprising a distal expandable anchor, a proximal expandable anchor, and a fixed length connecting member extending between the distal and proximal expandable anchors, wherein advancing the intraluminal cardiac device comprises advancing the intraluminal cardiac device with the distal and proximal expandable anchors in collapsed delivery configurations, wherein at least one of the proximal and distal anchors comprises first and second arm segments that extend from one end of the device toward the connecting member and the other anchor when in the collapsed configuration; retracting the catheter proximally within the coronary sinus to cause the distal expandable anchor to self-expand within the coronary sinus; anchoring the distal expandable anchor against movement in the coronary sinus; while maintaining the proximal expandable anchor within the catheter to prevent self-expansion of the proximal expandable anchor, pulling proximally on the catheter and the intraluminal cardiac device such that the connecting member is disposed on an inside curve of the coronary sinus so as to change the geometry of the mitral valve annulus and bring the leaflets of the mitral valve closer together, thereby reducing undesirable blood flow regurgitation back through the mitral valve during the heart cycle; while maintaining the intraluminal cardiac device in place, retracting the catheter proximally within the coronary sinus to cause the proximal expandable anchor to self-expand within the coronary sinus; anchoring the proximal expandable anchor against movement within the coronary sinus to substantially secure the mitral valve annulus in the changed geometry, whereby anchoring the anchor comprising the first and second arm segments causes the first and second arm segments to extend radially outwardly and fix against the wall of the coronary sinus such that the first and second arm segments extend away from one another toward the connector, and meet one another at a location axially spaced from the one end of the device; and releasing the proximal end of the intraluminal device and withdrawing the catheter from the coronary sinus.