Composite heart valve apparatus manufactured using techniques involving laser machining of tissue
Methodology for using laser machining techniques to modify a tissue for use in a medical device. In a representative mode of practice, relatively low energy laser machining is used to thin down at least a portion of a valved jugular vein. The thinned down vein may then be sutured to, or otherwise integrated with, a corresponding stent to make a percutaneous heart valve.
1. A method of making a composite medical device, comprising the steps of:
a) providing a tissue comprising a leaflet-based valve;
b) rotating the valved tissue;
c) aiming a laser obliquely at the rotating tissue;
d) using the obliquely aimed laser to ablate at least a portion of the tissue in a manner effective to reduce a wall thickness of the tissue along a length of the tissue; and
e) integrating components comprising the ablated tissue and a nontissue component together to form the composite medical device.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (d) comprises using an excimer laser as a source of the laser energy.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the laser has a laser energy output with a wavelength of about 248 nm.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tissue is a valved vein segment that is mounted on a rotating mandrel.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tissue is a bovine, valved vein segment.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (c) comprises aiming the laser tangentially at the rotating tissue.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the nontissue component is a stent, the tissue is a valved vein segment, and step (e) comprises attaching the valved vein segment to the stent.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (b) comprises supporting the tissue on a rotatable support.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the support comprises glass.