Patent ID: 8267993

Claim:
A holder assembly for implanting a cardiac valve prosthesis, said holder assembly comprising: a holder body, said holder body configured and sized for holding said cardiac valve prosthesis, said holder body including a ball defined at least in part by an external spherical surface, said ball having an opening extending therethrough, said opening extending through a center of said ball and provided with a shoulder member restricting the size of said opening, said ball also having a slot extending from said external spherical surface inwardly towards said center of said ball to communicate with said opening; and a handle member, said handle member configured to be gripped during an implantation of said cardiac valve prosthesis, said handle member including a socket seat configured and sized to mate with said ball, said socket seat and said ball cooperating to define together a ball-and-socket arrangement, said handle member demountably coupled to said holder body through said ball-and-socket arrangement, said handle member further comprising an actuator movable between a first and second actuator configuration, said actuator being coupled to a translating member that is movable relative to said handle member when said actuator is actuated, said translating member having a shaft portion and a shaft spherical terminal end enlarged in size relative to said shaft portion, said shaft portion sized to be insertable through said slot in said ball to allow demountable coupling of said holder body to said handle member, said shaft spherical terminal end being sized with a diameter larger than said slot and configured to engage said shoulder member in said holder body in a manner that when said holder body is coupled to said handle member, said spherical terminal end is positioned concentric within said ball; wherein, in said first actuator configuration said holder body is pivotable relative to said handle member so as to be positionable in a desired spatial orientation through said ball-and-socket arrangement, and in said second actuator configuration said holder body being locked relative to said handle member in said desired spatial orientation by virtue of said translating member drawing said ball into progressively increasing frictional contact with said socket seat as said actuator is moved between said first and second actuator configuration.