Patent ID: 7897086

Claim:
A method of securing a polymeric sheet material to rib components of a frame structure, wherein the rib components are jointed at a hub to form an expandable and collapsible implant, comprising: a. disposing a tube comprising thermoplastic material over each of one or more rib components of the frame to form a thermoplastic-material-encased rib; b. forming an assembly by applying the thermoplastic-encased rib adjacent to at least one polymeric sheet of material; and c. heating the assembly to fuse the sheet to the thermoplastic material to form a fused sheet, the fusion occurring by the heating and reforming of the thermoplastic material to the sheet, the rib remaining within the reformed thermoplastic material, wherein the structure is adapted to span a left ventricle and partition it into a main productive portion and a secondary non-productive portion.