The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 28, 2006
Filed:
May. 08, 2002
Michael J. Scott, Lake Forest, CA (US);
Rajesh A. Khanna, Tustin, CA (US);
Michael J. Scott, Lake Forest, CA (US);
Rajesh A. Khanna, Tustin, CA (US);
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Irvine, CA (US);
Abstract
A process and system for compressing bioprosthetic tissue for use in medical implants. The process involves placing the tissue between two compressive surfaces and applying a force to reduce any nonuniformity of thickness in the tissue, while at the same time reduce the overall thickness. One particularly useful application is the compression of bioprosthetic sheet during the preparation of heart valve leaflets. Bovine pericardium may be compressed to reduce its thickness by about 50%, and then formed into heart valve leaflets. The thinned leaflets have substantially the same absolute strength as those made from uncompressed tissue, and are particular desirable for use in minimally invasive valves which must be compressed into a small profile. The thin tissue enables a reduction in the overall size of the minimally invasive heart valve for delivery. For instance, rolled MIS valves may be reduced in size to as small as 20 mm in diameter. Desirably, a cross-linking step is combined with the compression step to fix the reduced thickness of the tissue. One apparatus may include porous compression substrates through which a cross-linking solution may diffuse so as to perform the fixation and compression simultaneously.