Patent ID: 8845717
Filing Date: 2014-09-30
Classification: A61B,A61F

Abstract:
1. A coaptation assist implant for treating mal-coaptation of a heart valve of a heart in a patient, the heart valve having an annulus, first and second leaflets, and first and second commissures, the annulus defining a valve axis extending along a blood flow path, the first and second leaflets having a coaptation zone defining a curve extending across the blood flow path, the implant comprising: a coaptation assist body having an axis and first and second opposed major coaptation surfaces, each opposed major coaptation surface extending laterally between a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge of the coaptation assist body, the coaptation assist body introducible into the heart and supportable within the heart so that the axis of the coaptation assist body extends along the axis of the valve with the first and second lateral edges of the coaptation assist body extending along the curve of the coaptation zone of the heart valve; the coaptation assist body deployable from a first configuration to a second configuration by removing the coaptation assist body from within a surrounding deployment catheter, wherein the coaptation assist body has an insertion volume within the deployment catheter and a deployed volume greater than the insertion volume, and wherein the coaptation assist body is volumetrically expandable within the heart so as to increase a thickness of the coaptation assist body between the first and second opposed major coaptation surfaces, wherein the coaptation assist body comprises a permeable material, and wherein the coaptation assist body is configured to volumetrically expand when released in the heart without the coaptation assist body being inflated using inflation fluid introduced from outside a vascular system of the patient.