US6206918B1 — Heart valve prosthesis having a pivot design for …

Claim 1

Independent Claim 128 words

A heart valve prosthesis, comprising: a valve body having an interior surface that defines a central passage for blood flow therethrough; and a pair of leaflet occluders proportioned to be pivotably mounted within the central passage, each leaflet occluder including a pair of mounting ears; wherein the valve body includes a plurality of recesses for receiving the pairs of mounting ears, each recess being bounded by a base surface and a sidewall, the sidewall defining a narrowed throat region, an upstream expanded region on one side of the throat region and a downstream expanded region on a generally opposite side of the throat region, the sidewall sloping outwardly from the base surface to form an oblique angle with a central axis along the entire length of the sidewall.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 128 words

A heart valve prosthesis, comprising: a valve body having an interior surface that defines a central passage for blood flow therethrough; and a pair of leaflet occluders proportioned to be pivotably mounted within the central passage, each leaflet occluder including a pair of mounting ears; wherein the valve body includes a plurality of recesses for receiving the pairs of mounting ears, each recess being bounded by a base surface and a sidewall, the sidewall defining a narrowed throat region, an upstream expanded region on one side of the throat region and a downstream expanded region on a generally opposite side of the throat region, the sidewall sloping outwardly from the base surface to form an oblique angle with a central axis along the entire length of the sidewall.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 22 words

The heart valve as recited in claim 1 , wherein the oblique angle remains constant along the entire length of the sidewall.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 28 words

The heart valve as recited in claim 1 , wherein the oblique angle is in the range from approximately one (1) degree to approximately forty five (45) degrees.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 28 words

The heart valve as recited in claim 1 , wherein the oblique angle is in the range from approximately ten (10) degrees to approximately thirty five (35) degrees.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 29 words

The heart valve as recited in claim 1 , wherein the oblique angle is in the range from approximately twenty five (25) degrees to approximately thirty five (35) degrees.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 38 words

The heart valve as recited in claim 1 , wherein the sidewall includes a plurality of stop regions disposed such that each mounting ear contacts at least two cooperating stop regions at an extreme of its pivotable motion.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 32 words

The heart valve as recited in claim 6 , wherein each stop region of the plurality of stop regions is disposed at a predetermined distance from a center of the throat region.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 117 words

A heart valve prosthesis, comprising: a valve body having an interior surface that defines a central passage for conducting blood flow; and at least one leaflet occluder pivotably mounted to the valve body by a pair of pivots, the interior surface including at least one pair of recesses to receive the pair of pivots, each recess being bounded by a continuously obliquely sloped sidewall extending between the interior surface and a recess base, each recess further including a narrowed throat region disposed such that the continuously obliquely sloped sidewall forms at least one pivot stop on each opposing side of the narrowed throat region to facilitate limiting the pivotal motion of the at least one leaflet occluder.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 117 words

A heart valve prosthesis, comprising: a valve body having an interior surface that defines a central passage for conducting blood flow; and at least one leaflet occluder pivotably mounted to the valve body by a pair of pivots, the interior surface including at least one pair of recesses to receive the pair of pivots, each recess being bounded by a continuously obliquely sloped sidewall extending between the interior surface and a recess base, each recess further including a narrowed throat region disposed such that the continuously obliquely sloped sidewall forms at least one pivot stop on each opposing side of the narrowed throat region to facilitate limiting the pivotal motion of the at least one leaflet occluder.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 23 words

The heart valve prosthesis as recited in claim 8 , wherein the at least one leaflet occluder comprises a pair of leaflet occluders.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 21 words

The heart valve prosthesis as recited in claim 8 , wherein the at least one pair of recesses includes four recesses.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 23 words

The heart valve prosthesis as recited in claim 10 , wherein each pivot of the pair of pivots comprises a generally flat ear.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 45 words

The heart valve prosthesis as recited in claim 8 , wherein the continuously obliquely sloped sidewall slopes outwardly from the recess base to form an oblique angle with an axis disposed generally normal to the interior surface, the angle being at least ten (10) degrees.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 29 words

The heart valve prosthesis as recited in claim 12 , wherein the oblique angle is in the range from approximately ten (10) degrees to approximately forty five (45) degrees.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 30 words

The heart valve prosthesis as recited in claim 12 , wherein the oblique angle is in the range from approximately twenty five (25) degrees to approximately thirty five (35) degrees.

Claim 17

Independent Claim 140 words

A method for facilitating blood flow through a prosthetic heart valve that includes a valve body having an interior surface defining a central passage through which blood flows and a leaflet occluder pivotably mounted in the central passage by a pair of pivot ears, comprising: creating a first recess and a second recess in the interior surface on generally opposite sides of the central passage to receive a pair of pivot ears of an individual leaflet occluder; forming each of the first recess and the second recess with a pair of expanded regions separated by a narrower throat region; defining the first recess by a first sidewall and the second recess by a second sidewall; and orienting the first and the second sidewalls continously at an oblique angle selected to prevent formation of surfaces generally perpendicular to the interior surface.

Claim 18

Independent Claim 140 words

A method for facilitating blood flow through a prosthetic heart valve that includes a valve body having an interior surface defining a central passage through which blood flows and a leaflet occluder pivotably mounted in the central passage by a pair of pivot ears, comprising: creating a first recess and a second recess in the interior surface on generally opposite sides of the central passage to receive a pair of pivot ears of an individual leaflet occluder; forming each of the first recess and the second recess with a pair of expanded regions separated by a narrower throat region; defining the first recess by a first sidewall and the second recess by a second sidewall; and orienting the first and the second sidewalls continously at an oblique angle selected to prevent formation of surfaces generally perpendicular to the interior surface.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 31 words

The method as recited in claim 15 , further comprising forming a third recess and a fourth recess to receive an additional pair of pivot ears of a second leaflet occluder.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 51 words

The method as recited in claim 15 , further comprising limiting the motion of the individual leaflet occluder by forming stop surfaces along the first sidewall in each expanded region of the first recess; and orienting the stop surfaces to interfere with a pivot ear of each pair of pivot ears.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 51 words

The method as recited in claim 17 , further comprising limiting the motion of the individual leaflet occluder by forming stop surfaces along the second sidewall in each expanded region of the second recess; and orienting the stop surfaces to interfere with a pivot ear of each pair of pivot ears.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 48 words

The method as recited in claim 17 , wherein orienting includes selecting oblique an angle in the range from approximately one (1) degree to approximately forty five (45) degrees as measured between an axis generally normal to the interior surface and the first sidewall or the second sidewall.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 49 words

The method as recited in claim 17 , wherein orienting includes selecting an oblique angle in the range from approximately twenty five (25) degrees to approximately thirty five (35) degrees as measured between an axis generally normal to the interior surface and the first sidewall or the second sidewall.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 55 words

The method as recited in claim 15 , further comprising placing a first fillet between the first sidewall and a first base surface of the first recess to improve fluid washing characteristics; and placing a second fillet between the second sidewall and a second base surface of the second recess to improve fluid washing characteristics.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2004-03-26	2004-09-25	2005-03-27	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2008-03-26	2008-09-25	2009-03-27	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2012-03-26	2012-09-25	2013-03-27	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Heart valve prosthesis having a pivot design for improving flow characteristics

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