Patent ID: 7163556

Claim:
A valve graft adapted to be implanted in a patient, comprising: a discrete valve frame, said valve frame having a periphery and defining a valve frame open area; and a sheet of biomaterial spanning said valve frame open area and suturelessly encasing the entire valve frame within the biomaterial at the periphery thereof, the biomaterial consisting essentially of a substantially acellular collagen matrix; wherein a margin of the sheet of biomaterial suturelessly encases the entire valve frame by being folded around the valve frame with a major surface of the sheet within the margin apposed and contacting the same major surface of the sheet interiorly relative to the valve frame, the contacting major surfaces being bonded in side-by-side relationship at one or more of a first bonding locus by local laser welding and denaturing of the collagen matrix within the locus but substantially free of collateral thermal damage.