Device for suture attachment for minimally invasive heart valve repair

1. A method of repairing a heart valve by inserting a suture in a valve leaflet of a beating heart of a patient, comprising:

inserting a generally flexible catheter body having a proximal end and a distal end into a vasculature of the patient;

intravascularly accessing an interior of the heart with a suture attachment assembly operably attached to the distal end of the catheter body, the suture attachment assembly including a proximal clamping jaw disposed adjacent the distal end of the catheter body, a rail having a proximal portion configured to be selectively longitudinally slideable with respect to the proximal clamping jaw and a distal portion, and a distal clamping jaw hingedly attached to the distal portion of the rail;

operating a jaw actuator disposed on a control handle operably attached to the proximal end of the catheter body to move a flexible member extending from the jaw actuator through the catheter body to a distal surface of the distal clamping jaw to pivot the distal clamping jaw from a first delivery position to a second capture position;

positioning the suture attachment assembly adjacent to a moving heart valve leaflet;

operating a rail actuator to longitudinally slide the rail with respect to the proximal clamping jaw to clamp the heart valve leaflet between the proximal clamping jaw and the distal clamping jaw; and

operating a needle actuator disposed on the control to slide a needle from within the catheter body to penetrate the heart valve leaflet to insert a suture through the heart valve leaflet.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein operating the jaw actuator and operating the rail actuator comprise operating a control knob on the control handle configured to control the rail actuator and the jaw actuator.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein operating the rail actuator comprises moving the control handle longitudinally and operating the jaw actuator comprises rotating the control handle.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the flexible member extends into a housing in the distal clamping jaw.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the flexible member comprises a wire.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising causing a wire loop extending from the proximal clamping jaw to transition from a collapsed position to an expanded position to effectively increase a capture area of the proximal clamping jaw.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein causing the wire loop to transition from the collapsed position to the expanded position includes extending the proximal clamping jaw out of a delivery catheter in the heart.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein extending the proximal clamping jaw out of the delivery catheter in the heart causes the wire loop to automatically transition from the collapsed position to the expanded position.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein intravascularly accessing the interior of the heart with the suture attachment assembly includes accessing the interior of the heart with a suture retained under tension on a suture routing post on the distal clamping jaw.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein clamping the heart valve leaflet between the proximal clamping jaw and the distal clamping jaw includes clamping the heart valve leaflet with a plurality of stepped teeth disposed around a perimeter of the distal clamping.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein clamping the heart valve leaflet between the proximal clamping jaw and the distal clamping jaw includes clamping the heart valve leaflet with a plurality of stepped teeth on the proximal clamping jaw.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising confirming capture of the valve leaflet between the proximal clamping jaw and the distal clamping jaw with one or more fiber optic cables extending from the control handle to an opening on a clamping face of the proximal clamping jaw.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein operating a needle actuator disposed on the control to slide a needle from within the catheter body to penetrate the heart valve leaflet to insert the suture through the heart valve leaflet includes actuating a needle release disposed at the control handle that prevents the needle from extending from the proximal clamping jaw until the needle release is actuated.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising applying tension to the suture with a suture tensioning assembly disposed at the control handle.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising actuating a suture release pin disposed in the handle to release the tension on the suture to enable the suture to be retrieved from the distal clamping jaw.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the suture attachment assembly is less flexible than the catheter body.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein intravascularly accessing an interior of the heart includes inserting the suture attachment catheter into a left atrium of the patient's heart via a vascular access to a right atrium of the heart and a transseptal access between the right atrium and the left atrium.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein operating the rail actuator to longitudinally slide the rail with respect to the proximal clamping includes sliding the rail in a channel of the proximal clamping jaw.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein operating the rail actuator to longitudinally slide the rail with respect to the proximal clamping includes the rail being prevented from being slid distally beyond the proximal clamping jaw by a distal rail lock disposed in the channel of the proximal clamping jaw.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein operating the rail actuator to longitudinally slide the rail with respect to the proximal clamping includes the rail being prevented from being slid proximally to bring the distal clamping jaw closer than a predetermined minimum distance from the proximal clamping jaw by a proximal rail lock disposed in the channel of the proximal clamping jaw.

21. The method of claim 1 , further comprising inserting a second suture through a second heart valve leaflet and securing the suture and the second suture such that the heart valve leaflet and the second heart valve leaflet are retained in a coapted position.

22. A method of performing an edge to edge repair of a heart valve in a valve leaflet of a beating heart of a patient, comprising:

inserting a generally flexible catheter body having a proximal end and a distal end into a vasculature of the patient;

intravascularly accessing an interior of the heart with a suture attachment assembly operably attached to the distal end of the catheter body, the suture attachment assembly including a proximal clamping jaw disposed adjacent the distal end of the catheter body, a rail having a proximal portion configured to be selectively longitudinally slideable with respect to the proximal clamping jaw and a distal portion, and a distal clamping jaw hingedly attached to the distal portion of the rail;

operating a jaw actuator disposed on a control handle operably attached to the proximal end of the catheter body to move a flexible member extending from the jaw actuator through the catheter body to a distal surface of the distal clamping jaw to pivot the distal clamping jaw from a first delivery position to a second capture position;

positioning the suture attachment assembly one or more times adjacent to one or more moving heart valve leaflets;

operating a rail actuator one or more times to longitudinally slide the rail with respect to the proximal clamping jaw to individually clamp the one or more heart valve leaflets between the proximal clamping jaw and the distal clamping jaw; and

operating a needle actuator disposed on the control one or more times to slide a needle from within the catheter body to individually penetrate the one or more heart valve leaflets to insert one or more sutures through the one or more heart valve leaflets; and

securing the one or more sutures to retain the one or more heart valve leaflets in a coapted position.

23. A method of performing an edge to edge repair of a heart valve in a valve leaflet of a beating heart of a patient, comprising:

inserting a generally flexible catheter body having a proximal end and a distal end into a vasculature of the patient;

intravascularly accessing an interior of the heart with a suture attachment assembly operably attached to the distal end of the catheter body, the suture attachment assembly including a proximal clamping jaw disposed adjacent the distal end of the catheter body, a rail having a proximal portion configured to be selectively longitudinally slideable with respect to the proximal clamping jaw and a distal portion, and a distal clamping jaw hingedly attached to the distal portion of the rail;

operating a jaw actuator disposed on a control handle operably attached to the proximal end of the catheter body to move a flexible member extending from the jaw actuator through the catheter body to a distal surface of the distal clamping jaw to pivot the distal clamping jaw from a first delivery position to a second capture position;

grasping a first heart valve leaflet between the proximal clamping jaw and the distal clamping jaw with the distal clamping jaw in the second capture position;

inserting a first suture through the first heart valve leaflet with a needle disposed in the catheter body;

grasping a second heart valve leaflet between the proximal clamping jaw and the distal clamping jaw with the distal clamping jaw in the second capture position;

inserting a second suture through the second heart valve leaflet with a needle disposed in the catheter body; and

securing the first sutures and the second suture to retain the first heart valve leaflet and the second heart valve leaflet in a coapted position.