St. Jude Medical, Inc.

Lise LaChance

Peter Nicholas Braido

Chad Qingshen Cai

Paul Edward Ashworth

Bob Allan

Steven D Kruse

Steve D Kruse

A method of making a prosthetic heart valve may include providing an annular stent having a plurality of annularly spaced commissure portions having tips, covering each of the tips with a first fabric cover, covering the first fabric covers and the remainder of the stent with a second fabric cover, covering the second fabric cover with a first tissue membrane, and covering the outside of the first tissue membrane with a second tissue membrane, the second tissue membrane forming leaflet portions that extend inwardly between the commissure portions.

Prosthetic heart valve including stent structure and tissue leaflets, and related methods

A prosthetic heart valve includes an annular stent having annularly spaced commissure portions. The tips of the commissure portions are preferably covered with fabric, and then additional fabric covers that fabric and the remainder of the stent, both inside and out (possibly also including a sewing ring insert at or near the base or inflow edge). The fabric is then covered by a layer of tissue, again both inside and out. A single sheet of additional tissue is mounted around the outside of the previously assembled components. This additional tissue forms the leaflet portions of the valve. The leaflet portions of the additional tissue are shaped by contact with a shaped mandrel, and the tissue of the structure is subjected to fixation (e.g., cross-linking) to produce a completed valve.

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St. Cloud, MN, United States of America

Lise LaChance