US 12,295,839 B2
Motorized implant delivery system
Matthew Michael Becerra, Lake Forest, CA (US); and David Robert Landon, Costa Mesa, CA (US)
Assigned to EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES CORPORATION, Irvine, CA (US)
Filed by Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Irvine, CA (US)
Filed on Jan. 22, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/156,370.
Application 17/156,370 is a continuation of application No. PCT/US2020/029138, filed on Apr. 21, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/837,641, filed on Apr. 23, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0145576 A1, May 20, 2021
Int. Cl. A61F 2/24 (2006.01); A61B 90/00 (2016.01); A61F 2/95 (2013.01); G16H 10/60 (2018.01); G16H 40/63 (2018.01)
CPC A61F 2/2427 (2013.01) [A61B 90/06 (2016.02); A61B 90/37 (2016.02); A61F 2/9517 (2020.05); G16H 10/60 (2018.01); G16H 40/63 (2018.01); A61B 2090/065 (2016.02)] 22 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of advancing a prosthetic replacement heart valve through a patient's vasculature in an atraumatic manner, the method comprising:
advancing a guide wire through the patient's vasculature and into a heart chamber;
advancing an elongate shaft of a catheter through the patient's vasculature over the guide wire to deliver the prosthetic replacement heart valve to a native heart valve, the prosthetic replacement heart valve being disposed along a distal end portion of the elongate shaft, the catheter including at least one motor for deflecting the distal end portion of the elongate shaft of the catheter within the patient's vasculature with one or more pull wires during advancement through the patient's vasculature for reducing contact with an inner wall of a blood vessel, wherein one or more proximity sensors are positioned along a nose cone for sensing a lateral distance between the nose cone and the inner wall of the blood vessel, wherein the nose cone has a tapered shape and is disposed distal to the elongate shaft during advancement;
providing, with a processor, control of the at least one motor to deflect the distal end portion of the elongate shaft of the catheter with the one or more pull wires while continuing to advance the elongate shaft through the patient's vasculature for steering the elongate shaft through the patient's vasculature in an atraumatic manner, wherein the at least one motor deflects the distal end portion with the one or more pull wires based on signals from the one or more proximity sensors of the lateral distance between the nose cone and the inner wall of the blood vessel while the elongate shaft of the catheter continues to be advanced, the signals provided as feedback to the processor; and
radially expanding the prosthetic replacement heart valve within the native heart valve to deploy the prosthetic replacement heart valve to the native heart valve from the distal end portion of the elongate shaft of the catheter.