Patent ID: 9060857
Filing Date: 2015-06-23
Classification: A61F,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A valve prosthesis comprising: a valve body comprising three leaflets, each leaflet including: a body, a free edge, and enlarged lateral ends at either end of the free edge, wherein adjacent enlarged lateral ends of adjoining leaflets are sewn together to form commissures; and a self-expanding frame, the frame having an inflow section having a first row of cells in a circumferentially repeating pattern, an outflow section having a second row of cells in a circumferentially repeating pattern and including an eyelet, and a middle region between the inflow section and the outflow section, wherein the middle region is configured to avoid blocking blood flow to the coronary arteries when the frame is implanted in a body, wherein the area of individual cells in the first row of cells is less than the area of individual cells in the second row of cells, wherein the frame supports the valve body, wherein the frame has a longitudinal axis, wherein the frame has a contracted delivery configuration and an expanded deployed configuration, wherein, when the frame is in the expanded deployed configuration, the outflow section diameter is larger than the inflow section diameter, wherein each commissure spans a cell of the frame, wherein a plurality of cells of the frame are positioned between the cells spanned by commissures, wherein each free edge is suspended from the leaflet's commissures to define coaptation edges and a center of coaptation, and wherein the length of each free edge forms a substantially continuous curve extending downwardly between the respective commissures so that the free edges of the leaflets generally define the shape of catenaries to substantially uniformly distribute loads over the leaflets.