Crimping device and method of use
A crimping tool for crimping a stented heart valve comprises a housing having a front wall and a back wall, a compression assembly disposed between the front wall and the back wall and including a stent receiving chamber therewithin for receiving a stented heart valve, and a delivery device holder slidably coupled to the front wall of the housing. The compression assembly is movable between an uncrimped position and a crimped position to reduce the diameter of the stented heart valve.
1. A crimping tool comprising:
a housing having a front wall and a back wall;
a drive wheel movably positioned within the housing, the drive wheel including an actuation lever for moving the wheel between a first position and a second position;
a plurality of bars operably coupled to the drive wheel and having a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end of the bars including a chamfered leading edge and an opposing planar surface and the proximal end of the bars including first and second legs forming a proximal opening therebetween;
a chamber defined by the planar surfaces at the distal ends of the bars, the chamber being reducible in size from a first enlarged size to a second reduced size as the actuation lever moves from the first position to the second position; and
a delivery device holder mounted on the front wall, the delivery device holder comprising a sliding plate slidably coupled to the front wall via at least one engagement member that extends from the front wall through a corresponding horizontal slot of the sliding plate.
2. The crimping tool of claim 1 , wherein the chamfered leading edge of each of the bars lies adjacent to the planar surface of an adjacent bar.
3. The crimping tool of claim 2 , wherein the drive wheel is positioned within the proximal openings of the bars.
4. The crimping tool of claim 3 , wherein each of the bars includes a drive pin slot and a guide pin slot.
5. The crimping tool of claim 4 , wherein the drive wheel includes a plurality of drive wheel slots, the drive wheel operably coupled to the bars with a plurality of drive pins extending between the drive pin slots in the bars and the drive wheel slots.
6. The crimping tool of claim 5 further comprising:
a first plurality of radially extending slots in the front wall; and
a second plurality of radially extending slots in the back wall;
wherein each of the bars is operably coupled to the housing with a guide pin extending through the guide pin slot and into a corresponding one of the radially extending slots in the front wall and the back wall.
7. The crimping tool of claim 6 , wherein the drive pin slot and the guide pin slot are positioned along an axis extending through a center plane of the bar.
8. The crimping tool of claim 1 , wherein the delivery device holder comprises a seat member structured to receive a delivery device.
9. The crimping tool of claim 8 , wherein the delivery device holder is slidable between a first position and a second position, the seat member being substantially aligned with a center axis of the chamber in the second position.
10. The crimping tool of claim 1 , wherein the at least one delivery device holder engagement member is movable between a first position in which the delivery device holder is slidable relative to the front wall and a second position in which the delivery device holder is fixed relative to the front wall.