ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 28 -- United States Patent no. 12,453,631, issued on Oct. 28, was assigned to EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES Corp. (Irvine, Calif.).
"Collapsible-expandable heart valves" was invented by Brian S. Conklin (Orange, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A prosthetic heart valve can include a valve frame having a wireform portion and a stent portion. The wireform and stent portions can be undetachably coupled together via a plurality of upright struts so as to form a one-piece prosthetic heart valve frame. Alternatively, a self-expanding wireform portion and a balloon-expandable stent portion can be coupled together via one or more leaflets and a subassembly having a flexible leaflet ...