| CPC A61F 2/2427 (2013.01) [A61F 2/2412 (2013.01); A61F 2/2433 (2013.01); A61M 25/0052 (2013.01); A61M 25/0147 (2013.01); A61M 25/1011 (2013.01); A61F 2002/9583 (2013.01); A61M 25/0051 (2013.01)] | 15 Claims |

|
1. A method of implanting a prosthetic heart valve, the method comprising:
advancing a distal end portion of a catheter shaft through a patient's vasculature, wherein the distal end portion of the catheter shaft comprises an expansion device, and wherein a prosthetic heart valve is mounted on the expansion device, the expansion device and the prosthetic heart valve being in a compressed configuration;
positioning the distal end portion of the catheter shaft and the prosthetic heart valve at or adjacent an implantation location; and
expanding the prosthetic heart valve and the expansion device from the compressed configuration to an expanded configuration, wherein the expansion device comprises a main body and a plurality of projections extending radially from the main body, wherein the projections are spaced apart relative to each such that there are grooves extending between adjacent projections providing perfusion passageways between the expansion device and the prosthetic heart valve when the expansion device is in the expanded configuration, wherein the grooves of the expansion device comprise a plurality of longitudinally-extending grooves running parallel to a central longitudinal axis of the expansion device and a plurality of circumferentially-extending grooves running perpendicular to the longitudinally-extending grooves, and wherein the longitudinally-extending grooves intersect and continue past the circumferentially-extending grooves.
|