Shiley, Inc.

Philip S Yang

Jay Alan Lenker

E Aubrey Woodroof

Marian I Ionescu

A prosthetic heart valve comprising a stent having an annular base and a plurality of legs extending upwardly from said base; a valve element circumscribing said stent and attached thereto, said valving element comprising a number of cooperating valve leaflets equal to the number of said legs; and a layer of biologically-compatible material secured to said stent and positioned between said stent and said leaflets, said layer having a smooth, non-abrasive outer surface and covering all of the surfaces of said stent that, in the absence of said layer, would contact the mobile portions of said leaflets during the normal function of the valve.

Alternate stent covering for tissue valves

Novel tubular prostheses, e.g. vascular or ureteral prostheses, prepared by sewing the opposed edges of a sheet of pericardial tissue together with a thread to form a longitudinal seam are disclosed. By disposing the thread in a suitable configuration along the seam, for example in a plurality of stitches each of which is secured with a knot, a tubular prosthesis results that can be cut transversely between its ends without unravelling the thread and substantially damaging the same. Use of bovine pericardial tissue is preferred since the range of compliances of tubular prostheses made therefrom is approximately comparable to the range in human arteries and veins, whereas tubular prostheses made from porcine pericardial tissue tend to be too compliant.

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Irvine, CA, United States of America

Philip S Yang