Patent ID: 8491650

Claim:
A delivery device for percutaneously delivering a stented prosthetic heart valve, the prosthetic heart valve being radially self-expandable from a compressed arrangement to a normal, expanded arrangement, the delivery device comprising: an inner shaft assembly including a coupling structure configured to selectively engage prosthetic heart valve; a delivery sheath assembly slidably disposed over the inner shaft assembly and including a distal capsule and a proximal shaft, wherein the capsule is configured to compressively contain the prosthetic heart valve in a compressed arrangement; an outer stability tube coaxially received over the proximal shaft, the stability tube including a proximal region and a distal region; wherein a circumferential rigidity of the capsule is greater than a circumferential rigidity of the distal region; and a handle maintaining the inner shaft assembly, the delivery sheath assembly, and the stability tube, the handling including: a housing, an actuator mechanism maintained by the housing and coupled to the proximal shaft, wherein the actuator mechanism is operable to selectively move the delivery sheath assembly relative to the inner shaft assembly and the stability tube; wherein the delivery device is configured to provide: a delivery state in which the capsule compressively contains the prosthetic heart valve and the distal region of the stability tube is proximal the capsule, an inner diameter of the distal region being less than an outer diameter of the capsule in the delivery state, a deployed state in which the capsule is withdrawn from the prosthetic heart valve and at least partially into the distal region to permit the prosthetic heart valve to self-deploy, wherein the capsule forces the distal region to expand in diameter upon placement within the distal region.