Patent ID: 8137394

Claim:
A valve, comprising: a valve frame; a valve leaflet coupled to the valve frame and configured for delayed deployment after a predetermined time, the valve leaflet having an open state and a closed state for unidirectional flow of a liquid through the valve after the predetermined time; and one or more biodegradable adhesives holding the valve leaflet in a static relationship relative the valve frame for uncontrolled flow of the liquid through the valve for the predetermined time, the one or more biodegradable adhesives configured to degrade over the predetermined time to deploy the valve leaflet from the static relationship with the valve frame after the predetermined time, wherein the one or more biodegradable adhesives are located at different discrete regions along the valve frame extending from a distal end of the valve frame to a proximal end of the valve frame, and wherein a concentration of the one or more biodegradable adhesives at each of the discrete regions changes from the distal end to the proximal end of the valve frame to progressively release the valve leaflet.