| 主权项 |
1. A heart valve prosthesis comprising:
a tubular stent having a compressed configuration for delivery within a vasculature and a deployed configuration for deployment within a native heart valve; a prosthetic valve component disposed within and secured to the stent; and at least two positioning elements coupled to a distal end of the stent to position and anchor the prosthesis within the native heart valve, each positioning element including an outer generally U-shaped or V-shaped support arm and an inner generally U-shaped or V-shaped support arm that both distally extend from the distal end of the stent when the stent is in the compressed configuration, each generally U-shaped or V-shaped support arm having a first end and a second end coupled to the distal end of the stent with a peak formed between the first and second ends, the outer and inner support arms extending along the same plane and the inner support arm being disposed within the outer support arm such that the peaks of the inner and outer support arms are aligned, and such that each of the first and second ends of the outer support arm is coupled to the stent at a circumferentially spaced apart location from the respective first and second ends of the inner support arm, wherein during deployment of the prosthesis each support arm bends radially outward and then towards an outer surface of the stent such that it translates more than ninety degrees from the compressed configuration to proximally extend from the distal end of the stent when the stent is in the deployed configuration, and wherein a connector extends from the peak of the outer support arm to the peak of inner support arm and couples the peaks of the support arms together to ensure that the support arms remain in the same plane during deployment of the prosthesis. |
