BILEAFLET MECHANICAL HEART VALVE WITH PIVOTING MECHANISM PREVENTING STAGNATION

摘要

A bileaflet mechanical cardiovascular valve comprising an annular valve body having a pair of occluder leaflets pivotally mounted therewithin. The occluder leaflets are pivotally mounted within the valve body by the snap-fitting of ear member which extends from the top and bottom ends of the occluder leaflets into corresponding cropped pivot slots formed within the annular valve body. Each cropped pivot slot comprises a spheroidal depression or recess having a first flat cropped edge which corresponds to the cosing position of a leaflet and a second flat cropped edge. The ear members of the occluder leaflets are sized and configured relative to the cropped pivot slots to facilitate opening and closing of the occluder leaflets and to allow sufficient clearance between moving parts. Such clearance allows only a limited amount of blood back flow or regurgitation which in turn allows keeping the likelihood of thrombosis or hemolysis to a minimum. Additionally disclosed is a specialized machine tool and method for machining the cropped pivot slots in the annular valve body.