Patent ID: 7563273

Claim:
An interventional tool for repairing a cardiac valve of a patient having leaflets, said tool comprising: a catheter having an inner shaft, a proximal portion and a distal portion adapted for placement through vasculature of the patient to a location near the cardiac valve; and a capture device detachably connected to the catheter comprising at least two extendable distal elements and at least two extendable proximal elements, each of the proximal and distal elements having a proximal end adjacent the shaft and a distal end, wherein the at least two extendable distal elements and the at least two extendable proximal elements are disposed near the distal portion of said shaft and held in a retracted position adjacent to the shaft, and wherein the at least two extendable distal elements and the at least two extendable proximal elements are independently deployable and self-expand in an outward radial direction from the shaft to a deployed position further away from the shaft than the retracted position and to positions in between the retracted position and the deployed position, so as to capture the valve leaflets between the at least two extendable distal elements and the at least two extendable proximal elements, wherein extending the at least two distal and at least two proximal elements adjusts a length in each of the elements protruding from the shaft, the length traversing from the distal end of the element to a distal end of the shaft, wherein the shaft is movable relative to the catheter so that the at least two proximal elements in the deployed position are moved into engagement with the at least two distal elements in the deployed position.