Patent ID: 8303653

Claim:
An implantation unit comprising: a valve implant for delivery at a determined position within a blood vessel of a patient; an implant member that is expandable in a radial direction from a stowed form to a radially deployed form, the valve implant being carried on the implant member and including valve elements that provide for directional fluid flow from a first end of the unit to a second end of the unit, and a plurality of feelers operatively connected with the implant member and disposed at desired radial positions around the implant member, the plurality of feelers being deployable from a stowed form to a radially expanded and functional deployed form independently from expansion of the implant member, each of the plurality of feelers extending from the implant member in an engagement direction that is a direction opposite to the directional fluid flow to an end portion of the at least one feeler that can engage with a cavity along the blood vessel as the unit is moved into position in the engagement direction.