Patent ID: 7530253

Claim:
A prosthetic valve crimping device capable of reducing the diameter of an expandable prosthetic valve having a support frame by at least 10 mm, comprising: a base and housing fixedly mounted thereto, the housing defining a central axis and having at least six evenly spaced spoke-like guide channels, the guide channels each being at least 5 mm in length; a plurality of circumferentially arrayed nesting jaws axially and rotatably constrained by but radially movable within the housing, each jaw having a camming member that extends axially into a guide channel, the number of jaws being the same as the number of guide channels, each jaw being substantially radially oriented and being formed of a single piece; each jaw defining an inner end that has a partial crimping surface which combines with the same on the other jaws to form a crimping aperture of variable diameter and having an axial dimension sufficient to crimp an expandable prosthetic valve, each partial crimping surface terminating on one side at a point that is constrained to move along a radial line as the jaw moves along the guide channel; a camming plate rotatable about the housing and having a plurality of cams, at least one for each jaw, which act directly on the camming members and move the jaws without any intervening connecting members; and a manual actuator that rotates the camming plate and simultaneously moves the jaws in to reduce the aperture diameter by at least 10 mm to crimp an expandable prosthetic valve placed within the aperture, and subsequently out to release the valve after crimping.