Suture rings for heart valves

Claim 1

In combination, a heart valve comprising a valve body providing a blood flow passageway and occluder means mounted on said valve body for opening and closing the passageway, said valve body having an external, circumferential surface around the valve body; a suture ring in a post-deformation condition and comprising an inner, continuous compression ring formed of a ductile, electrically conductive material and a layer of fabric secured around said compression ring, said compression ring extending around and being formed against said external, circumferential surface of said valve body over at least the major portion of the axial length of said compression ring with said fabric layer of said suture ring interposed between said compression ring and said circumferential surface such that said compression ring securely clamps said circumferential surface while permitting relative rotational movement of said suture ring and said valve body in a direction along said circumferential surface; an electric coil disposed radially outwardly from said compression ring; and electric circuit means connected to said coil for applying an electrical pulse to said coil, said suture ring having a pre-deformation condition in which said suture is dimensioned slightly larger than said circumferential surface of said heart valve so that said suture ring can be slipped over said heart valve, application of said electrical pulse causing said coil to provide an electromagnetic pulse causing said suture ring to be deformed toward said post-deformation condition.