Patent ID: 9615924
Date: 2017-04-11
CPC Classifications: A61F

Claim:
1. A method of delivering a collapsible prosthetic heart valve in a patient, the method comprising: providing a delivery device having a catheter assembly and an operating handle, the catheter assembly including a compartment adapted to receive the valve in an assembled condition, the operating handle including a frame defining a movement space therein, a carriage assembly moveable in first and second opposite longitudinal directions within the movement space, a coupler, and a deployment actuator constrained relative to the coupler in the longitudinal directions, the coupler operatively coupling the carriage assembly to the frame, the coupler being selectively lockable to the frame in any of a plurality of fixed positions within the movement space; loading the valve into the compartment of the catheter assembly, the compartment and the valve being covered by a distal sheath of the catheter assembly; inserting the catheter assembly into the patient; positioning the valve at a target location within the patient; partially deploying the valve by rotating the deployment actuator to move the carriage assembly of the operating handle relative to the coupler and the frame in a first longitudinal direction along a first portion of the movement space, while the coupler is in a locked condition in which the coupler is connected to the frame in a fixed position; and fully deploying the valve by unlocking the coupler from the frame and translating the coupler together with the carriage assembly to continue movement of the carriage assembly in the first longitudinal direction along a second portion of the movement space.