Bowed runners for paravalvular leak protection
A prosthetic heart valve for replacing a native valve includes a collapsible and expandable stent having a proximal end and a distal end, the stent being formed of a plurality of struts forming cells. A valve assembly is disposed within the stent, the valve assembly including a plurality of leaflets and a cuff. At least one runner is coupled to a cell and configured to transition from a first configuration to a second configuration when the stent moves from the collapsed condition to the expanded condition.
1 . A prosthetic heart valve for replacing a native valve, comprising:
a stent including a plurality of struts forming cells, the stent having a collapsed condition and an expanded condition;
a valve assembly disposed within the stent, the valve assembly including a plurality of leaflets and a cuff; and
at least one runner coupled to an intersection of struts of a selected cell, the selected cell having four struts that circumscribe the at least one runner, the at least one runner being configured to transition from a first configuration to a second configuration when the stent moves from the collapsed condition to the expanded condition, the at least one runner projecting radially outwardly from a surface of the selected struts of the selected cell in the second configuration,
wherein the at least one runner has a first terminal end coupled to the intersection of the struts of the selected cell, and an unattached end opposite the first terminal end.
2 . The prosthetic heart valve of claim 1 , wherein the selected cell is diamond-shaped.
3 . The prosthetic heart valve of claim 1 , wherein the at least one runner is linear in the first configuration.
4 . The prosthetic heart valve of claim 1 , wherein the at least one runner is bowed or curved in the second configuration.
5 . The prosthetic heart valve of claim 1 , wherein the at least one runner pushes the cuff radially outwardly when the at least one runner transitions from the first configuration to the second configuration.
6 . The prosthetic heart valve of claim 5 , wherein the at least one runner is disposed radially outward of the leaflets.
7 . The prosthetic heart valve of claim 1 , wherein the stent has a length direction between a proximal end of the stent and a distal end of the stent, and the at least one runner extends substantially in the length direction in the second configuration.
8 . The prosthetic heart valve of claim 1 , wherein each of the cells has a first strut, a second strut, a third strut and a fourth strut collectively forming a closed shape with one another.
9 . The prosthetic heart valve of claim 8 , wherein the first strut is directly joined to the second strut and one of the third strut and the fourth strut.
10 . The prosthetic heart valve of claim 1 , wherein the stent includes an aortic section having a first diameter, and an annulus section having a second diameter, the first diameter being larger than the second diameter in the expanded condition, and wherein the selected cell is in the annulus section.
11 . The prosthetic heart valve of claim 1 , wherein the selected cell is disposed in a proximalmost row of cells.