OTHER PUBLICATIONS
International Search Report ol International Application No. PCT/US99/08010.
The History ol Sulzer Carbomedics, Sulzer Carbomedics, The Heart Valve Company, 1996.
The Valve System, Choice Combinations, Deknatel, 1995.
Primary Examiner—David H. Willse
Assistant Examiner—Choon P. Koh
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—McDermott, Will & Emery
[57] ABSTRACT
A prosthetic cardiac valve assembly for sutureless implantation in a patient. The assembly includes a generally disk-shaped valve annulus element and one or more generally disk-shaped retainer elements. The elements are adapted for mutual engagement and for engagement with a host tissue region so as to fix a portion ol the host tissue between them in a sutureless bond. Ultrasonic or thermal energy is applied to one or more ol the elements to bond them together. Either the valve annulus element or the retainer element includes a plurality ol projections, and the corresponding element includes a corresponding plurality ol apertures for receiving the projections, thus providing for mutual physical engagement. The valve annulus element can include a plurality ol valve leaflets which open and close in response to fluid pressure differentials across them. Various insertion devices for the assembly are designed to lacilitate insertion ol the elements in the heart through a relatively small incision. The elements can be implanted, assembled and bonded together in situ around the host tissue.
15 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets
