| CPC A61F 2/2418 (2013.01) [A61F 2002/91525 (2013.01); A61F 2250/0026 (2013.01); A61F 2250/0039 (2013.01)] | 17 Claims |

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1. A prosthetic heart valve, comprising:
a stent structure that is configured to expand from a compressed state for transluminal delivery to a natural expanded state, the stent structure comprising a mesh structure that has an essentially tubular shape and that furthermore defines a circumference with contours, wherein the contours define a proximal inlet region, a distal outlet region, and an intermediate transition region, wherein the intermediate transition region connects the inlet region and outlet region to each another, and wherein the mesh structure comprises a plurality of closed cells that in the longitudinal direction of the prosthetic heart valve have varying cell sizes and cell configurations to define a plurality of cell patterns that vary in size between the proximal inlet region, the distal outlet region, and the intermediate transition region, and
a valve arrangement that is arranged inside a lumen of the stent structure, wherein:
the cells in the inlet region are formed and arranged to define a conical-convex outer shape across the entire circumference of the inlet region,
the cells in the outlet region are shaped and arranged to define a linear cylindrical outer shape across the entire circumference of the outlet region,
two or more cells in the transition region are shaped and arranged for permitting a cell surface area of suitable size for free access to the coronary arteries, and
the inlet region comprises a higher number of smaller cells than the outlet region to create, when the stent structure is in the expanded state, a higher maximum radial force in the inlet region in direct comparison to a lower maximum radial force in the outlet region and in the transition region, wherein the transition region has the smallest diameter of the entire stent structure.
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