Patent ID: 8016882

Claim:
A method comprising the steps of providing an implant comprising a scaffold, at least a portion of the scaffold defining a pseudo-annulus, the scaffold comprising a normal, unloaded condition and an elastically loaded condition, at least two struts, the struts having a connecting member and a tab segment, wherein the struts are coupled to the scaffold by the connecting members and are positioned in generally oppositely spaced apart positions, a first neoleaflet element coupled to the scaffold, the neoleaflet element comprising a first material spanning at least a first portion of the pseudo annulus, introducing the implant into a heart, wherein the heart includes a valve having a native valve annulus with an upstream and downstream side, the valve further having at least one native leaflet joined at leaflet commissures to tissue that surrounds the native valve annulus, positioning the pseudo-annulus defined by the scaffold adjacent to the upstream side of the native valve annulus, positioning the neoleaflet element in an at least partially overlapping relationship with at least one of the at least one native leaflets, placing the strut tab segments into engagement with the tissue at or near the native leaflet commissures, and allowing external compression forces to place the elastic scaffold into the elastically loaded condition, whereby force exerted on the tissue by the struts reshapes the native valve annulus.