US 11,883,287 B2
Steerable rail delivery system
Alexander H. Cooper, Costa Mesa, CA (US); David Robert Landon, Costa Mesa, CA (US); Kevin M. Stewart, Corona, CA (US); Garrett Dallas Johnson, Costa Mesa, CA (US); Glen T. Rabito, Lake Forest, CA (US); Tarannum Ishaq Gutierrez, Ladera Ranch, CA (US); Hiroshi Okabe, Costa Mesa, CA (US); Ramon Aguilar, Jr., Corona, CA (US); Jesse Robert Edwards, Ladera Ranch, CA (US); Taylor Jacob Scheinblum, Newport Beach, CA (US); Patrick Chow, San Marino, CA (US); Julio Cesar Sanchez, Garden Grove, CA (US); and Hieu Minh Luong, Westminster, CA (US)
Assigned to EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES CORPORATION, Irvine, CA (US)
Filed by Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Irvine, CA (US)
Filed on Oct. 15, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/071,745.
Application 17/071,745 is a continuation of application No. 16/028,172, filed on Jul. 5, 2018, granted, now 10,813,757.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/635,421, filed on Feb. 26, 2018.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/529,394, filed on Jul. 6, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2021/0022863 A1, Jan. 28, 2021
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61F 2/24 (2006.01); A61M 25/00 (2006.01); A61M 25/01 (2006.01); A61F 2/95 (2013.01)
CPC A61F 2/2436 (2013.01) [A61F 2/243 (2013.01); A61F 2/2439 (2013.01); A61M 25/005 (2013.01); A61M 25/0054 (2013.01); A61M 25/0147 (2013.01); A61F 2/2418 (2013.01); A61F 2/9517 (2020.05)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for delivering an expandable implant to a body location, the method comprising:
delivering an expandable replacement heart valve within a delivery system toward a location of a native heart valve,
wherein the expandable replacement heart valve comprises a distal end and a proximal end,
wherein the delivery system comprises an outer sheath assembly, a rail assembly, and an inner shaft assembly,
wherein the outer sheath assembly comprises an outer shaft having an outer lumen and a capsule configured to retain the expandable replacement heart valve in a radially compressed configuration,
wherein the rail assembly is located within the outer lumen of the outer sheath assembly, the rail assembly comprising a steerable rail shaft having a rail lumen and at least one pull wire attached on an inner surface of the rail shaft configured to provide an axial force on the steerable rail shaft to steer the rail assembly,
wherein the inner assembly is disposed within the rail lumen of the rail assembly, the inner assembly comprising an inner shaft having an inner lumen and an inner retention member configured to be releasably attached to the expandable replacement heart valve;
activating the at least one pull wire in the rail assembly to provide at least one bend to the steerable rail shaft to steer the delivery assembly toward the location of the native heart valve;
moving the outer sheath assembly and the inner retention member distally together relative to the rail assembly to position the expandable replacement heart valve at the location of the native heart valve while the expandable replacement heart valve remains in the radially compressed configuration within the capsule; and
proximally retracting the outer sheath assembly relative to the inner retention member in order to at least partially expand the expandable replacement heart valve from the radially compressed configuration at the location of the native heart valve.