TRILEAFLET HEART VALVE

摘要

A trileaflet heart valve (11) includes a generally annular valve body (15) having an interior wall (19) of nominally circular cross section into which three wedge shaped projections (23) radially extend to provide three pairs of flanking flat surfaces (25) between which three leaflets (13) are pivotally supported. The valve body (15) has an outwardly flaring upstream entrance end (21) that, together with the configuration of the leaflets (13), assures streamlined flow and low transvalvular pressure drop. Wing sections (59) extend laterally in both directions at angles between about 30 degrees and 50 degrees from flat central sections (57) of the leaflets (13) to create V-shaped cross section leaflet bodies having short flat edge sections (61) along the lateral edges of both wing sections (59) that create a wide open central flow passageway. The three leaflets (13) assume an orientation parallel or nearly parallel to the central axis in full open position. Leaflet movement from open to closed position is partially defined by upstream retainers (73) aligned with the flat central sections (57) of each leaflet (13), and by surfaces formed in or on the side walls (25) of the projections (23) along which the leaflets (13) slide. Radially interior edges (47b) of the leaflets (13) are tapered to effectively eliminate cavitation.