Patent ID: 7670370

Claim:
A method for automatically fixing sutures to secure a valve sleeve including an annular cuff and a replacement heart valve to an annulus formed in a patient's heart, comprising the steps of: removing an existing heart valve thereby forming an annulus in the patient's heart; placing a first cylinder having a first end and a second end and an interior surface and an exterior surface and comprising first securing means formed on said exterior surface adjacent to said second end of said first cylinder, wherein said first cylinder includes a valve sleeve having an annular cuff, such that said annular cuff surrounds said exterior surface adjacent to said first end of said first cylinder; positioning said annular cuff of said valve sleeve in said annulus and securing said cuff to said annulus with a plurality of sutures; threading said plurality of sutures over said exterior surface of said first cylinder and over an interior surface of a second cylinder, said second cylinder having second securing means corresponding to and adapted to fixedly engage said first securing means of said first cylinder; creating a blood-tight seal between said cuff of said valve sleeve and said annulus; and securing said plurality of sutures between said first cylinder and said second cylinder by engaging said first securing means of said first cylinder with said second securing means of said second cylinder.