Heart valve with tissue alignment and clamping

Abstract

Abstract A concentric mating stent tissue heart valve which is capable of being assembled with a variety of tissue sources is provided. A plurality of prefabricated kits are also provided which enable the valve to be assembled with autogenous tissue in the limited time, i.e., 10 minutes or less, available in the operating room. The inner stent (3) can be configured with a plurality of tissue alignment members (6a, 6b) extending outward from the inner stent (3) to corresponding holes cut in the tissue (2). The outer stent (1) can be configured with posts (9a, 9b, 9c) adapted for nesting with corresponding inner stent posts (5a, 5b, 5c), and integrated with self-adjusting tensioning means, to exert a substantially uniform clamping force on the tissue (2) sufficient to secure the tissue between the stents.

Inventors

• 👤 Charles Steele Love
• 👤 Jack Wayne Love
• 👤 John Henry Calvin

Bibliographic Details