Tissue prosthesis processing technology

摘要

A heart valve prostheses crimping apparatus and method for deducing the diameter of stents containing heart valve prosthesis. A medical prosthesis catheter loading apparatus, including a crimping assembly for reducing the diameter of a prosthesis; and a catheter clamp for holding a catheter adjacent to the prosthesis. Also disclosed is an apparatus for reducing the diameter of a medical prosthesis, including a base, a crimp head connectable to the base, and an actuation mechanism connected to the base and connectable to the crimp head to actuate the crimp head. Also disclosed is a method of loading a medical prosthesis into a catheter, including the steps of reducing the diameter of a prosthesis from its normal deployed state to a diameter less than that of the lumen of the catheter; holding a catheter adjacent to the reduced diameter prosthesis; and moving the prosthesis into the catheter lumen.

主权项

1. A method of loading a medical prosthesis into a catheter, comprising the steps of:
a. reducing the diameter of a medical prosthesis from its normal deployed state to a diameter less than that of the lumen of the catheter by an apparatus including: (i) a base, the base including a pair of crimp head retaining members, each crimp head retaining member having a crimp head segment guide, each crimp head segment guide comprising at least two concentric arrangements of linear grooves; (ii) a crimp head connectable to the base and; (iii) an actuation mechanism connected to the base and connectable to the crimp head to actuate the crimp head; b. holding a catheter adjacent to the reduced diameter prosthesis; and c. moving the prosthesis into the catheter lumen.