Patent ID: 9168136
Filing Date: 2015-10-27
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
1. A method for delivering and implanting a prosthetic heart valve in a native aortic valve in a patient, comprising: collapsing a prosthetic heart valve to a contracted configuration while the prosthetic heart valve is coupled to a mechanical deployment mechanism, the prosthetic heart valve comprising a self-expandable stent body and a plurality of leaflet-forming membranes made from bovine pericardium, the stent body having a proximal end and a distal end; advancing a catheter shaft over a guidewire and through a femoral artery while a patient's heart is beating, the catheter shaft having the deployment mechanism and prosthetic heart valve disposed along a distal end portion thereof, the catheter shaft having a proximal operating handle disposed along a proximal end portion thereof; advancing the catheter shaft through an ascending aorta and toward a native aortic valve position while visualizing at least one radiopaque marker on the stent body; permitting the prosthetic heart valve to self-expand to an initial expanded configuration; actuating the deployment mechanism via the proximal operating handle for regulating a rate of expansion of the prosthetic heart valve from the initial expanded configuration to a final expanded configuration, wherein the proximal and distal ends of the stent body are expanded at equal rates, thereby allowing the stent body to maintain a generally tubular shape during expansion; locking the prosthetic heart valve in the final expanded configuration via a mechanical locking device disposed on the prosthetic heart valve; and detaching the deployment mechanism from the prosthetic heart valve and withdrawing the catheter shaft and deployment mechanism from a patient's vasculature.