Tissue prosthesis processing technology
View Patent ↗A heart valve prostheses crimping apparatus and method for deducing the diameter of stents containing heart valve prosthesis. A medical prosthesis catheter loading apparatus, including a crimping assembly for reducing the diameter of a prosthesis; and a catheter clamp for holding a catheter adjacent to the prosthesis. Also disclosed is an apparatus for reducing the diameter of a medical prosthesis, including a base, a crimp head connectable to the base, and an actuation mechanism connected to the base and connectable to the crimp head to actuate the crimp head. Also disclosed is a method of loading a medical prosthesis into a catheter, including the steps of reducing the diameter of a prosthesis from its normal deployed state to a diameter less than that of the lumen of the catheter; holding a catheter adjacent to the reduced diameter prosthesis; and moving the prosthesis into the catheter lumen.
1. An apparatus for reducing the diameter of a medical prosthesis, comprising a base, the base including a pair of crimp head retaining members, each crimp head retaining member having a crimp head segment guide, each crimp head segment guide comprising at least two concentric arrangements of linear grooves, a crimp head connectable to the base, and an actuation mechanism connected to the base and connectable to the crimp head to actuate the crimp head.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the retaining members are constructed of a sterilizable material.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each concentric arrangement of linear grooves has an inner arrangement of linear grooves and an outer arrangement of linear grooves.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the crimp head comprises a plurality of crimp elements arranged about a central crimp aperture, each crimp element having a distal rectilinear slide block and a proximal rectilinear slide block.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the crimp elements linearly move to vary the size of the central crimp aperture.
6. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein each crimp element has a distal end disposed near the central aperture and a proximal end disposed away from the central aperture, each element further having a distal rectilinear slide block, a proximal rectilinear slide block, and at least one flat actuation surface.
7. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the head is readily disposable.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising a segment loader for configuring the crimp elements.
9. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the actuation mechanism comprises a rotatable activation ring communicatively connected to the crimp elements to move them linearly toward the central crimp aperture.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the activation ring is communicatively connected to the crimp elements via element contacting rollers.
11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the activation ring is communicatively connected to the crimp elements via element contacting pins.
12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the actuation mechanism further comprises a screw connected to the activation ring via a lever arrangement.
13. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the actuation mechanism further comprises an arm connected to the activation ring via a gear arrangement.
14. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a submersion tank for holding a predetermined amount of a medical solution and adapted for enclosing at least a portion of the crimping assembly.